Frequency of Epstein-Barr virus-associated gastric adenocarcinoma in Taiwan.
Eighty-two gastric adenocarcinomas (32 intestinal and 50 diffuse type) were investigated for the presence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA by amplifying the 78-bp fragment from the EBNA1 gene with polymerase chain reaction. EBV was detected in 17 (20.7%) of the 82 gastric tumorous specimens. Of these 17 EBV-positive cases, only one was EBV-positive in the adjacent non-tumorous tissue. EBV-positive gastric adenocarcinoma was present in 15.6 and 24.0% of the intestinal and diffuse type tumors, respectively, but within the two classes there was significant non-homogeneity by type. EBV was found more frequently in adenocarcinomas of the tubular (25%) and poorly differentiated (30.3%) types. EBV involvement was found more in male than in female patients. Eighty of the 82 tumors were also checked for the prevalence of p53 gene mutation. Of the 17 EBV-positive gastric adenocarcinomas, only two showed p53 gene mutations. The p53 mutation rate was lower in EBV-positive tumors (11.8%) than in EBV-negative tumors (25.4%).
Department of Public Health, Chang Gung College of Medicine and Technology, Taiwan, PR China.
L L
LL
Hsieh
P J
PJ
Lin
T C
TC
Chen
J T
JT
Ou
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D000368:Aged; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D016158:Genes, p53 / Q000235:genetics; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*
D004279:DNA, Viral