Infection of Epstein-Barr virus in colorectal cancer in Chinese.
OBJECTIVE
Except for the tight correlation to nasopharyngeal carcinoma, accumulating evidences show that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is correlated to other carcinomas. This study was to investigate the correlation of EBV to colorectal carcinoma in Chinese.


METHODS
EBV DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 90 specimens of primary colorectal carcinoma and 25 specimens of corresponding adjacent non-cancerous tissue, with the primers covering 2 different regions of EBV genome, BamH I W fragment and latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) exon 3. The expression of EBV nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) and LMP1 were determined by immunohistochemistry, and the expression of EBV-encoded RNAs (EBERs) was detected by in situ hybridization.


RESULTS
EBV LMP1 exon 3 and W fragment were detected in 27.7% and 32.2% of the 90 colorectal carcinoma specimens, which were significantly higher than the positive rate of EBV gene in the 25 adjacent non-cancerous tissues (4.0%, P<0.001). Of the 29 W fragment-positive tumors, 23 (79.3%) were EBNA1-positive, 1 (3.4%) was EBERs-positive; most EBNA1-positive cells were tumor cells with positive signals gathered in the nuclei. No expression of EBNA1 and EBERs were detected in the 8 W fragment-negative tumors. No expression of LMP1 was detected in all tumor specimens.


CONCLUSIONS
EBV infection might be associated with colorectal carcinoma in Chinese.
Song
Li-Bing
LB
State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510060, P. R. China.
Zhang
Xing
X
Zhang
Chang-Qing
CQ
Zhang
Ying
Y
Pan
Zhi-Zhong
ZZ
Liao
Wen-Ting
WT
Li
Man-Zhi
MZ
Zeng
Mu-Sheng
MS
D044466:Asian People; D002681:China; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D015245:Deoxyribonuclease BamHI / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000235:genetics; D019309:Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D004279:DNA, Viral; C037662:EBV-associated membrane antigen, Epstein-Barr virus; D019309:Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigens; D012367:RNA, Viral; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; D015245:Deoxyribonuclease BamHI; C417029:EBV-encoded nuclear antigen 1