title: Epstein-Barr virus-associated gastric carcinoma in southern India: A comparison with a large-scale Japanese series.
abstract: Epidemiological and clinicopathological features of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) associated gastric carcinoma was compared in India and Japan, two countries differing markedly in gastric cancer incidence. Using in situ hybridization assay, the presence of EBV-encoded small RNA (EBER) was examined in 215, and 2,011 gastric cancer cases in Kerala, India, and Japan, respectively. Ten cases (5%), all males, in the Indian series were EBER-positive. This frequency was similar to that in the Japanese series (6.2%). As was the case with Japanese series, the EBV-associated gastric carcinoma in the Indian series was observed most frequently in the middle part of the stomach (1 in antrum, 4 in middle part, 2 in cardia, and 3 unknown), and, histologically, the diffuse type Lauren's classification (8 cases) was more common than the intestinal type (2 cases). Virus subtyping by PCR-RFLP revealed that all of the 10 EBV strains isolated from the EBER-positive Indian cases were subtype A, and wild-type F for Bam HI F region. In Bam HI I region, 8 cases were type C and the remaining 2 cases were type D. In either series, there was no significant difference in the frequency of tumors with p53 overexpression between EBER-positive and -negative cases. However, the proportion of cells with p53 overexpression in EBER-negative tumors was significantly higher than that in EBER-positive tumors regardless of histological type in both series. In conclusion, the frequency and major clinicopathological features of EBV-associated gastric carcinoma in south India were similar to those observed in Japanese series although gastric cancer incidence in these two countries differs markedly.
authors.affiliation: Reginal Cancer Center, Medical College Campus, Trivandrum, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: Jayasree
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kattoor
authors.forename: Chihaya
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Koriyama
authors.forename: Suminori
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akiba
authors.forename: Tetsuhiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: Shan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Yoshito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Eizuru
authors.forename: Elizabeth K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Abraham
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chandralekha
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Amma
authors.forename: M Krishnan
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Nair
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000378:metabolism; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C099537:Epstein-Barr virus encoded RNA 1; D012367:RNA, Viral; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53