Epstein-Barr Virus Latent Membrane Protein-1 Expression in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Abstract

PURPOSE Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), a malignant neoplasm of the epithelium covering the nasopharynx, is a rare disease in most parts of the world. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the most potent oncogenic virus, coupled with environmental and genetic factors has been identified to play a role in the development of NPC. An array of methods for detecting the virus do exist, from serologic detection of antibodies to DNA amplification. There is paucity of local data on the status of EBV infection in relation to NPC within the region, and this study attempts to shed more light on the subject. METHODS This was a retrospective cross-sectional laboratory-based study on histologically confirmed, archived tissues from July 2015 to June 2019. Immunohistochemistry expression of latent membrane protein-1 (LMP-1) was used to detect EBV infection in the tissues. RESULTS A total of 71 cases were enrolled in this study. The mean age was 47.87 years ± 16.84 years with a male-to-female ratio of 1.5:1. There was a unimodal distribution of EBV detection, with the peak (26.8%) at 36-45 years. About 45.1% of the 71 samples tested positive for LMP-1, all of which were nonkeratinizing carcinoma. Nonkeratinizing carcinoma was the most common histopathologic subtype (n = 67; 94.4%), with the majority (38 of 67; 56.7%) being undifferentiated and 29 of 67 (43.3%) differentiated. Keratinizing and basaloid subtypes had two cases each, representing 2.8%. CONCLUSION A significant proportion of NPC, particularly nonkeratinizing histologic subtype, seems to show LMP-1 positivity by immunohistochemistry, which may be adopted in resource-constrained settings to detect EBV infection in these tissue biopsies.

Detection of Epstein-Barr virus infections in Egyptian Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma patients

“…In the current study, EBV was positive in half of the NPC cases , which was consistent with Salano et al 22 who reported EBV presence in about (45%) of NPC cases, also is similar to the prevalence in Sudan (61.3%) 23 . Interestingly, South African NPC patients had a significantly higher EBV incidence.…”

Could MMP3 and MMP9 Serve as Biomarkers in EBV-Related Oropharyngeal Cancer

“…LMP 1 regulates multiple signaling pathways, including NF-κB, influencing cell proliferation, apoptosis, transformation, metastasis, and invasion [ 52 ]. Moreover, by increasing the susceptibility of cells to the virus through the secretion of MMPs, it facilitates the degradation of the extracellular matrix.…”

Pathogenesis and therapeutic implications of EBV-associated epithelial cancers

“…EBV is potentially acquired in early childhood when the immune system is not fully developed and evolved ( 48 ). On the contrary, if acquired during teenage years, EBV potentially presents as infectious mononucleosis ( 49 , 50 ). One hypothesis proposes that in early life, persistent EBV infection arises from inadequate immune clearance due to the developing immune system resulting in an infection that is likely to persist for the remainder of the carrier’s lifespan.…”