Hep C affects the liver and some people say some other organs which I do not know about, but I have never heard the lymph nodes, The lymph nodes do filter certain toxins, proteins and clean the fluid before it reunites with(this is a brief explanation from my memory ), Cigarette smoking is way more brutal for the lymph system, possible the dead virus gets processed through the lymph, inflammation gets processed, Smoking is bad for the lymph system
I have read that HCV can increase the risk of certain lymphomas.