Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV)-associated gastric carcinoma

The ubiquitous Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with several human tumors, which include lymphoid and epithelial malignancies. It is known that EBV persistently infects the memory B cell pool of healthy individuals by activating growth and survival signaling pathways that can contribute to B cell lymphomagenesis. Although the monoclonal proliferation of EBV-infected cells can be observed in epithelial tumors, such as nasopharyngeal carcinoma and EBV-associated gastric carcinoma, the precise role of EBV in the carcinogenic progress is not fully understood. This review features characteristics and current understanding of EBV-associated gastric carcinoma. EBV-associated gastric carcinoma comprises almost 10% of all gastric carcinoma cases and expresses restricted EBV latent genes (Latency I). Firstly, definition, epidemiology, and clinical features are discussed. Then, the route of infection and carcinogenic role of viral genes are presented. Of particular interest, the association with frequent genomic CpG methylation and role of miRNA for carcinogenesis are topically discussed. Finally, the possibility of therapies targeting EBV-associated gastric carcinoma is proposed.