Epstein–Barr Virus Infection in Adult Patients with Gastric Cancer in Northeast of Iran

Background: Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) is a DNA virus from human herpes virus that associates with many of the human cancers including gastric cancer (GC). Aims: The aim of the present study was to report infection of EBV in adult patients with GC in Northeast of Iran and the correlation between a number of clinicopathology factors with EBV status. Materials and Methods: In a case–control study in 2016, 56 GC patients and 56 controls were selected for the analysis. All patients had gastric adenocarcinoma untreated patients with age >18 years. EBV status detected by the polymerase chain reaction method. Results: Out of 56 GC patients, 35 (62.5%) were EBV positivity and out of 56 controls 3 (5.4%) were EBV positivity (P < 0.001). There is not a significant correlation between the variables with the EBV status (P > 0.05). Furthermore, the progression-free survival rate for the patients with EBV negativity was 95.2% compared with 82.9% for EBV positivity (P = 0.174). Conclusions: This study reported a very high prevalence of EBV-associated GC in the Northeast of Iran compared with other areas of the World and showed a significant correlation between EBV infection and incidence of GC.