THE ROLE OF EPSTEIN-BARR-VIRUS IN LYMPHOEPITHELIOMA-LIKE CARCINOMAS

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of a variety of lymphoproliferative disorders and several epithelial neopla sms, including undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (UNPC; lympho epithelioma). Lymphoepithelioma-like carcinomas (LEC) are tumors with morphologic features identical to UNPC that occur outside the nasophar ynx. To determine whether EBV is associated with LEC, the authors cond ucted a comprehensive literature review of all pathologically document ed LEC reported to date in the English literature. In summary, EBV is associated consistently with LEC from only four anatomic sites: stomac h, salivary gland, lung, and thymus. Racial and/or geographic factors influence tile association of EBV with LEC in some of these organs. Sp ecifically, the association of EBV with LEC of the salivary gland and lung is restricted to Asian patients, whereas the association of EBV w ith gastric and thymic LEC is independent of race. The presence or abs ence of EBV in LEC does not appear to be prognostically important in t hose cases studies to date.