Erschienen in:
19.09.2021 | Brief Report
Epstein-Barr virus associated gastric dysplasia: a new rare entity?
verfasst von:
Valentina Angerilli, Francesca Galuppini, Gianmaria Pennelli, Giuseppe Nicolo’ Fanelli, Emanuele S. G. d’Amore, Mauro Michelotto, Pierluigi Pilati, Gaya Spolverato, Salvatore Pucciarelli, Marco Scarpa, Fabio Farinati, Edoardo Savarino, Stefano Realdon, Sara Lonardi, Francesca Bergamo, Fotios Loupakis, Angelo Paolo Dei Tos, Alessandro Vanoli, Matteo Fassan
Erschienen in:
Virchows Archiv
|
Ausgabe 4/2022
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Abstract
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection characterizes a portion of gastric adenocarcinomas. However, since there is lack of evidence of EBV presence in pre-neoplastic lesions of gastric mucosa, the etiologic role of EBV in gastric carcinogenesis is still debated. We report an unusual case of an EBV-associated foveolar gastric dysplasia associated with a focus of EBV-positive low-grade tubular adenocarcinoma, arisen in the context of a lymphocytic-like (EBV-positive) gastritis. The present case offers the unique opportunity to determine whether EBV is an early or late event in gastric cancer development and to evaluate its prevalence in patients with gastric dysplasia. To properly address this question, we investigated EBER expression in a large mono-institutional series of gastric and gastro-esophageal cancers (n = 594) and associated precursor lesions (n = 84). All the selected gastric dysplastic lesions (n = 43) resulted EBV negative. In most cases, EBV is present only in gastric and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinomas, but not in their precursor lesions. However, the reported case indicates that non-conventional EBV-associated dysplasia may represent a novel histopathological entity in the gastric dysplasia scenario and that EBV could play an early direct role in gastric carcinogenesis.