title: Epstein-Barr virus prevalence in oral squamous cell cancer and in potentially malignant oral disorders in an eastern Hungarian population.
abstract: We tested 65, 44, and 116 patients with oral squamous cell cancer (OSCC), oral leukoplakia (OL), and oral lichen planus (OLP) against 68 age-matched controls for the presence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Apparently healthy mucosa was simultaneously sampled and examined in all patients. Paraffin-embedded tissue sections of all EBV-positive patients with OSCC were examined for latent membrane protein-1 (LMP-1) expression (demonstrable in most EBV-associated malignancies) using immunohistochemistry. The prevalence of EBV in the controls and in OSCC, OL, and OLP lesions was 19.1%, 73.8%, 29.5%, and 46.6%, respectively, and 66.2%, 22.7%, and 31.9% in the healthy mucosa of patients, respectively. The prevalence of EBV in OSCC patients was significantly higher than in controls or in respective samples of the other two patient groups both in the lesion and in the healthy mucosa. Comparisons including only patients with EBV-negative lesions yielded similar results. Lesions of patients with OLP, but not of patients with OL, differed significantly from controls in EBV prevalence. In OSCC, LMP-1 expression was not detected, and EBV carriage was not significantly associated with any risk factors and did not influence the outcome. Although a high prevalence of EBV was found in OSCC, comparable carriage rates on healthy mucosa of patients indicated that an aetiological role of EBV is unlikely.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Medical and Health Science Centre, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kis
authors.forename: Eniko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fehér
authors.forename: Tamás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gáll
authors.forename: Ildikó
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tar
authors.forename: Róbert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Boda
authors.forename: Etelka D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Tóth
authors.forename: Gábor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Méhes
authors.forename: Lajos
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gergely
authors.forename: Krisztina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Szarka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D002213:Capsid / Q000821:virology; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000821:virology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary; D007972:Leukoplakia, Oral / Q000821:virology; D017676:Lichen Planus, Oral / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000821:virology; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000821:virology*; D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000821:virology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D019562:Viral Load; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; C037662:EBV-associated membrane antigen, Epstein-Barr virus; D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins