FREQUENCY OF EPSTEIN-BARR VIRUS-ASSOCIATED GASTRIC ADENOCARCINOMA IN TAIWAN

Eighty-two gastric adenocarcinomas (32 intestinal and 50 diffuse type) were investigated for the presence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA by amplifying the 78-bp fragment from the EBNA1 gene with polymerase cha in reaction. EBV was detected in 17 (20.7%) of the 82 gastric tumorous specimens. Of these 17 EBV-positive cases, only one was EBV-positive in the adjacent non-tumorous tissue. EBV-positive gastric adenocarcino ma was present in 15.6 and 24.0% of the intestinal and diffuse type tu mors, respectively, but within the two classes there was significant n on-homogeneity by type. EBV was found more frequently in adenocarcinom as of the tubular (25%) and poorly differentiated (30.3%) types. EBV i nvolvement was found more in male than in female patients. Eighty of t he 82 tumors were also checked for the prevalence of p53 gene mutation . Of the 17 EBV-positive gastric adenocarcinomas, only two showed p53 gene mutations. The p53 mutation rate was lower in EBV-positive tumors (11.8%) than in EBV-negative tumors (25.4%). (C) 1998 EIsevier Scienc e Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.