MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF EPSTEIN-BARR-VIRUS (EBV) IN EBV-RELATED MALIGNANCIES

The prevalent strain of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in EBV-related malign ancies and in healthy adults in Southern Japan was examined by means o f polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and/or restriction fragment length p olymorphism (RFLP) analysis. In EBV-related gastric cancers, 51/73 cas es were subtype A, 4 were subtype B and the EBNA-2 region was not ampl ified in 18 cases. Sixty-three were wild-type F, and only one was vari ant ''f''. Sixty-one cases had type C and 2 type D. EBNA-2 subtype A w as found in 10/12 EBV-related T/NK-cell lymphomas, and 11 samples harb ored the wild-type F. Neither subtype B nor the ''f'' variant was dete cted. Type C EBV was found in 8 cases and type D in 3 specimens. Two-J apanese nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPC) harbored subtype A with wild-t ype F and type C. Throat washings from healthy adults harbored wild-ty pe F virus in 60/153 cases, and 25 of these samples were EBNA-2 subtyp e A. Type C viruses were detected in 92% of cases and type D in 7.4%. Therefore, the prevalent strain in EBV-related malignancies in Souther n Japan was the same as in the healthy population in this geographical region. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.