Higher viral load of Epstein-Barr virus in gastric cancer compared with non-cancerous gastroduodenal tissues

Arghavan Zebardast; Maryam Pazhoohan; Azadeh Yazdani Cherati; Maryam Salehi; Saghar Saber Amoli; Yousef Yahyapour; Mohammad Ranaee; Javad Shokri Shirvani; Farzin Sadeghi

doi:10.53854/liim-3002-12

Higher viral load of Epstein-Barr virus in gastric cancer compared with non-cancerous gastroduodenal tissues

Infez Med. 2022 Jun 1;30(2):263-271. doi: 10.53854/liim-3002-12. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Arghavan Zebardast¹, Maryam Pazhoohan¹, Azadeh Yazdani Cherati¹, Maryam Salehi^{1

2}, Saghar Saber Amoli³, Yousef Yahyapour², Mohammad Ranaee⁴, Javad Shokri Shirvani⁵, Farzin Sadeghi⁶

Affiliations

¹ Students Research Committee, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
² Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol; University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
³ Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
⁴ Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
⁵ Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
⁶ Cancer Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV)-associated gastric cancer is a distinct molecular subtype of gastrointestinal carcinomas as defined by the Cancer Genome Atlas.

Methods: In the present study 237 samples from Iranian patients diagnosed with gastric cancer and gastroduodenal disease were retrospectively examined for EBV infection by quantitative Real-Time PCR.

Results: Of the 237 samples tested, EBV DNA was detected in 37 samples (15.6%), in 13 of the 81 gastric cancer cases (16%), and 24 of the 156 non-cancerous samples (15.4%). The EBV infection rate was found higher in patients with gastric ulcer (35%) and duodenal ulcer (21.9%) compared to patients with gastric cancer (16%) and gastritis (19.6%). The EBV-encoded small RNA (EBER) copy number in the gastric cancer group (mean = 2.14×10^-1 with range of 2.14×10^-2 to 4.10×10^-1 copies/ cell) was higher than gastroduodenal diseases group (mean = 1.39×10^-2 with range 1.11×10^-3 to 2.35×10^-2 copies/ cell), and this difference was statistically significant (P >0.001).

Conclusion: The higher number of copies of EBV-EBER in the gastric cancer group compared to the non-cancer group confirmed the possible role of EBV in inducing cancer.

Keywords: Epstein-Barr virus; Helicobacter pylori; cancer; gastric cancer; gastroduodenal disease.