Incidence of Epstein–Barr virus in Syrian women with breast cancer: A tissue microarray study

Abstract

Keywords: breast cancer, Epstein-Barr virus, invasive cancer, Syrian women Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been recently shown to be present in human breast cancer worldwide, which could play an important role in the initiation and progression of this cancer. In this regard, we aimed to explore the prevalence of EBV in 108 breast cancer tissues from Syrian women using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and tissue microarray (TMA) analysis. We found that EBV is present in 56 (51.85%) of breast cancers samples. Additionally, we report that the expression of LMP1 gene of EBV is associated with a cancer invasive phenotype in the majority of the cancer samples. These data imply that EBV is present in breast cancer worldwide including Syria and its presence is associated with more aggressive cancer phenotype. Thus, future investigations are needed to elucidate the exact role of EBV in breast carcinogenesis and metastasis.

Co-prevalence of Epstein–Barr virus and high-risk human papillomaviruses in Syrian women with breast cancer

“…1) with one or more positive lymph nodes, in comparison with positive cases of EBV alone or HPVs alone as well as negatives cases for both, EBV and HPVs. 3,11,13 while, it is important to mention that EBV and HPVs positive cases were found to be low to intermediate grade IDC, respectively. In parallel, normal mammary tissue and epithelial cells, which were used as controls, were revealed negative for both EBV and HPVs.…”

“…Additionally, we reported that the LMP1 expression is correlated with invasive breast cancer phenotype in more than 60% of breast cancer samples as opposed to »20% of in-situ cancer tissues. 3 Several other recent studies, including 3 from the Middle East, showed clearly that EBV is present in 30-50% of human breast cancer. [4][5][6][7][8] Overall, these studies demonstrate that EBV is present in human breast cancer; given the biological actions of EBV-derived onco-proteins, it is quite possible that it plays an important role in the initiation and/or progression of this malignancy.…”

“…15,16 In this study, we explored the presence of EBV and high-risk HPV (types 16, 18, 31, 33 and 35) together in breast cancer in Syrian women by PCR and tissue microarray methodologies using specific primers and monoclonal antibodies with all the necessary controls, as described previously by our group. 3,11,13 The use of these specimens and data in research was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine of Aleppo University. 3,13 We report that 35 (32%) of the 108 samples are positive for both EBV and high-risk HPVs (Table 1A).…”

“…3,11,13 The use of these specimens and data in research was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine of Aleppo University. 3,13 We report that 35 (32%) of the 108 samples are positive for both EBV and high-risk HPVs (Table 1A). Based on these data and our 2 earlier studies, we assessed the association between the co-presence of these viruses and tumor aggressiveness in our samples.…”

Presencia del virus del papiloma humano y del virus de Epstein-Barr en biopsias de cáncer de mama como posibles factores de riesgo

“…En este estudio se detectó la presencia de VEB en el 13.6% de nuestras pacientes con cáncer de mama, mientras que en aquellas con patología benigna se detectó ADN del VEB solo en una, representando el 4.5%. Este resultado se encuentra por debajo de los valores reportados en otros estudios realizados en el mundo, los cuales oscilan entre el 21 y el 55% de positividad para ADN del VEB, dependiendo del tipo de técnica empleada en la detección 4,19,40 . En los trabajos que emplearon algún tipo de PCR, al igual que en nuestro estudio, se detectaron bajas frecuencias de infección, como en el de Xue, et al 41 , quienes detectaron, mediante PCR específica de transcriptasa reversa para el gen BZLF1, el ARN viral en el 17% de los casos de cáncer de mama, o el trabajo de Yahia, et al 42 , quienes detectaron un 11% de positividad para ADN del VEB en los casos de cáncer de mama mediante PCR con iniciadores específicos para el gen EBNA-1.…”