DETECTION OF EPSTEIN-BARR-VIRUS DNA IN GASTRIC-CARCINOMA WITH LYMPHOID STROMA

Gastric carcinoma with lymphoid stroma (GCLS) was considered to be one of the virus-associated neoplasms, However, the precise mechanism of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) oncogenesis for GCLS remains unclear, We used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA in situ hybridization (ISH) m ethods to detect the presence of EBV DNA in 14 cases of gastric carcin oma, including 8 cases of GCLS, Epstein-Barr virus DNA was detected by both PCR and ISH in 3 of the 8 GCLS cases (37.5%) and was negative in the other 6 cases of non-GCLS, In situ DNA hybridization showed that the EBV DNA was in the carcinoma cells in all cases that were positive by PCR, Among the positive cases, one early gastric carcinoma showed that EBV DNA was not only in the carcinoma cells, but also in the norm al epithelium, This study provides the interpretation of the finding o f EBV DNA in nonneoplastic gastric epithelium. Some genetic changes ma y be initiated in the EBV-infected nonneoplastic cells, which would le ad to oncogenesis.