Epstein-Barr Virus and Breast Cancer
Abstract
Epstein Barr virus (EBV) has been implicated as a cofactor in several human malignancies. The possibility that EBV may play a role in the development of breast cancer has been raised in recent years. However, published reports have shown conflicting results. This could be related to the different as says employed and also possible geographical variations in the incidence of this infection. We collected 282 cases of invasive breast carcinomas, as well as 30 normal tissues adjacent to the tumors from 5 different geographical regions (USA, India, Kuwait, China and Saudi Arabia) . Conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR), real-time PCR and EBV-encoded small nonpolyadenylated RNA (EBER-1) in situ hybridization (ISH) were used to study these cases. The data indicate that EBV is present in a small subset of breast carcinomas, however, the high PCR positivity is likely due to the presence of latently infected infiltrating lymphocytes. The incidence and/or the viral load of EBV association with breast cancers were not significantly different among the geographical regions studied.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA421791
Entities
People
- Wing C. Chan
Organizations
- University of Nebraska Medical Center