Homology of Epstein Barr virus DNA in nasopharyngeal carcinomas from Kenya, Taiwan, Singapore and Tunisia

J. S. Pagano, C. H. Huang, G. Klein, G. de-Thé, K. Shanmugaratnam, C. S. Yang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

The association of the Epstein Barr virus (EBV) and anaplastic carcinoma of the nasopharynx has added another dimension to our view of the biology of this virus. This is a consequence of the demonstration that the EBV genome is harbored in the carcinomatous, i.e., the epithelial, cells of the tumor rather than in the infiltrating lymphocytes. Another aspect of our understanding of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), potentially even more significant, is the epidemiology of this tumor; unlike Burkitt's lymphoma (BL), it is globally distributed although there are remarkable geographic variations. It has been shown that the EBV genome is found in NPC from Kenya. In this publication it is shown that the viral genome can be detected in malignant tissues from patients with NPC in other parts of the world outside Kenya. This is important because it confirms that the association of EBV and a human malignancy is not confined to a limited geographical area where a local etiological cofactor might be operative, as is perhaps the case with BL. In addition, evidence is presented of variations in the viral genome found in tumor tissue taken from NPC. The data may be interpreted as indicating the existence of different strains of the Epstein Barr virus in nature, a phenomenon long suspected but for which previously there was no substantial evidence, or the retention of defective EBV genome in tumor tissue.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)179-190
Number of pages12
JournalIARC scientific publications
VolumeNo.11 II
StatePublished - 1975
Externally publishedYes

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