Infection of Breast Epithelial Cells With Epstein-Barr Virus Via Cell-to-Cell Contact

Extract

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a human herpesvirus present in more than 90% of adults, is a major viral cofactor in certain tumors of lymphoid and epithelial tissues (1). Persistent infection is associated with malignancies and proliferative syndromes typically of lymphoid and epithelial tissues (1), including Burkitt's lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, certain adult T-cell lymphomas, and, in epithelium, nasopharyngeal carcinoma and oral hairy leukoplakia. In vitro, EBV efficiently infects, transforms, and immortalizes B cells, yielding lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs).

Several studies have associated EBV with breast cancer. Bonnet et al. (2) detected EBV genomes and gene expression in breast cancer lesions by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, Southern hybridization, and immunohistochemistry specific for EBV protein EBNA (i.e., EBV nuclear antigen)-1. Labrecque et al. (3) detected EBV in breast cancers by PCR and in situ hybridization. There are descriptions of EBV-associated lymphomas (4,5) localizing to breast and of bilateral breast cancer developing during the rare chronic active EBV infection syndrome (6).