Epstein-barr virus and breast cancer : epidemiological and molecular study on Egyptian and Iraqi women

Abstract EN

Background and purpose : The role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in breast carcinogenesis is still controversial.

Unraveling this relationship is potentially important for better understanding of breast cancer etiology, early detection and possibly prevention of breast cancer.

The aim of the current study is to unravel the association between EBV and primary invasive breast cancer (PIBC) in two different Arab populations (Egyptian and Iraqi women).

Patients and Methods : The study was done on paraffin-embedded tissues of 40 Egyptian and 50 Iraqi patients with PIBC in addition to 20 normal breast tissues as controls for each group.

Both controls and neoplastic tissues were assessed for the expression of EBV genes and proteins EBNA-1, LMP-1, and EBER) as well as CD21 marker by immunohistochemistry (IHC), in situ hybridization (ISH) and PCR techniques.

Results : Our gold standard for EBV reactivity in breast cancer cases was positivity of both EBNA1 by PCR and EBER by in situ hybridization.

EBV was detected in 18 / 40 (45 %) and 14 / 50 (28 %) of Egyptian and Iraqi women; respectively where p = 0.073, compared to 0 / 20 (0 %) of their control groups (p < 0.05).

Regarding the association between EBV positivity and tumor grade, there was not any statistical significant difference between EBV presence and tumor grade in both populations.