The Relationship Between Epstein-Barr Virus And Helicobacter Pylori Infection And Gastric Carcinomas

Objective To explore the role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) infection in the tumorigenesis of gastric carcinoma, and also investigated the relationship between EBV infection and H.pylori infection in the development of gastric carcinomas.Methods 185 gastric carcinoma and corresponding para-carcinoma tissues were tested for EBV genome by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-Southern analysis. EBV-encoded small RNA 1 (EBERl) of the PCR positive specimens was detected by in situ hybridization (ISH). Gastric carcinoma with positive EBERl signals was confirmed EBV-associated gastric carcinoma (EBVaGC). The status of H.pylori infection in 185 gastric carcinomas was assessed by rapid urease test and PCR. The samples with positive PCR and urease test were defined as H. pylor- positive samples.Results â‘  There were 13 EBV positive samples in gastric carcinomas (7.03%), but no EBV positive sample in corresponding para-carcinomas. The difference of EBV positive rate between gastric carcinoma and corresponding para-carcinoma tissues was significant (X~2=11.0769, P=0.0009). In our series, age, pathological differentiation, clinical stages, lymph node metastasis and location of cancer were not different between EBV-negative gastric carcinomas (EBVnGC) and EBVaGC (P=0.669, 0.141, 0.259,0.818, 0.064, respectively), while sex was significantly different between the two groups (X~2=3.9404, P=0.0471). â‘¡ The positive rate of H.pylori in 185 gastic carcinomas was 59.45%(110/185). No difference was found in sex, age, pathological differentiation, clinical stages and lymph node metastasis between H.pylori-positive and H.pylori-negative gastric carcinomas (P=0. 5744, 0. 7791, 0.9858, 0. 9750, 0. 5769 , respectively). However, the location of tumor was significantly different between the...