Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Nov;31(11):1328-1333.
doi: 10.1097/MEG.0000000000001521.

Clinicopathological characteristics of Epstein-Barr virus-positive gastric cancer in Latvia

Evita Gasenko  1   2   3 , Sergejs Isajevs  1   2   3   4 , Maria Constanza Camargo  5 , George Johan A Offerhaus  6 , Inese Polaka  1   2   7 , Margaret L Gulley  8 , Roberts Skapars  1   2   3 , Armands Sivins  1   2   3 , Ilona Kojalo  1   2   3 , Arnis Kirsners  1   3   7 , Daiga Santare  1   2   3 , Jelizaveta Pavlova  1 , Olga Sjomina  1 , Elina Liepina  3   9 , Liliana Tzivian  1   2 , Charles S Rabkin  5 , Marcis Leja  1   2   3
Affiliations

Clinicopathological characteristics of Epstein-Barr virus-positive gastric cancer in Latvia

Evita Gasenko et al. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2019 Nov.

Abstract

Objective: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated gastric cancer has been proposed to be a distinct gastric cancer molecular subtype. The prognostic significance of EBV infection in gastric cancer remains unclear and needs further investigation. Our study aimed to analyze EBV-positive and EBV-negative gastric cancer patients regarding their personal and tumor-related characteristics, and compare their overall survival.

Methods: Gastric cancer patients consecutively treated at the Riga East University Hospital during 2009-2016 were identified retrospectively. Tumor EBV status was determined by in-situ hybridization for EBV-encoded RNA (EBER). Information about clinicopathological characteristics was obtained from patient questionnaires, hospital records. Overall survival was ascertained through 30 July 2017. Cox proportional hazard regression models adjusted for personal and tumor-related covariates compared survival between EBV-positive and EBV-negative patients.

Results: There were a total of 302 gastric cancer patients (61% males) with mean and SD age 63.6 ± 11.5 years. EBER positivity was present in 8.6% of tumors. EBV-positive gastric cancer patients had better survival at 80 months [adjusted hazard ratio = 0.37, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.19-0.72] compared to EBV-negative patients. Worse survival was observed for patients with stage III (hazard ratio = 2.76, 95% CI = 1.67-4.56) and stage IV (hazard ratio = 10.02, 95% CI = 5.72-17.57) compared to stage I gastric cancer, and overlapping and unspecified subsite (hazard ratio = 1.85; 95% CI = 1.14; 3.00) compared to distal tumors.

Conclusion: Tumor EBV positivity is a favorable prognostic factor in gastric cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Representative photomicrographs of an EBV-positive gastric cancer tumor stained with hematoxylin and eosin (left panel), RNA preservation control (middle panel), and EBER-ISH (right panel)
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Kaplan-Meier curve of cumulative survival (all stages combined)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Nishikawa J, Yoshiyama H, Iizasa H, Kanehiro Y, Nakamura M, Nishimura J, et al. Epstein-barr virus in gastric carcinoma. Cancers [Internet]. 2014. November 7;6(4):2259–74. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Network TCGAR, Bass AJ, Thorsson V, Shmulevich I, Reynolds SM, Miller M, et al. Comprehensive molecular characterization of gastric adenocarcinoma. Nature [Internet]. 2014. July 23;513:202. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sousa H, Pinto-Correia A-L, Medeiros R, Dinis-Ribeiro M. Epstein-Barr virus is associated with gastric carcinoma: the question is what is the significance? World journal of gastroenterology [Internet]. 2008/07/21. 2008. July 21;14(27):4347–51. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Liu X, Liu J, Qiu H, Kong P, Chen S, Li W, et al. Prognostic significance of Epstein-Barr virus infection in gastric cancer: a meta-analysis. BMC cancer [Internet]. 2015. October 24;15:782. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Camargo MC, Kim W-H, Chiaravalli AM, Kim K-M, Corvalan AH, Matsuo K, et al. Improved survival of gastric cancer with tumour Epstein-Barr virus positivity: an international pooled analysis. Gut [Internet]. 2013/04/12. 2014. February;63(2):236–43. - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms