Prevalence of Epstein Barr Virus and Herpes Simplex Virus Among Human Papillomavirus Negative Oral Cancer Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study from South India

Paras Jain; Nawin Kumar; Shriya C Shetty; Shwetha Shetty Kalladka; Pushkal Sinduvadi Ramesh; Prakash Patil; Mohana Kumar; Vinay Kumar Rajendra; Devanand Devegowda; Veena Shetty

doi:10.1007/s12070-023-04174-6

Prevalence of Epstein Barr Virus and Herpes Simplex Virus Among Human Papillomavirus Negative Oral Cancer Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study from South India

Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2024 Feb;76(1):414-421. doi: 10.1007/s12070-023-04174-6. Epub 2023 Sep 12.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of General Surgery, KS Hegde Medical Academy (KSHEMA), Nitte (Deemed to be University), Deralakatte, Mangaluru, Karnataka 575018 India.
² Department of Surgery, Manipal TATA Medical College, Jamshedpur, India.
³ Central Research Laboratory, KS Hegde Medical Academy (KSHEMA), Nitte (Deemed to be University), Deralakatte, Mangaluru, Karnataka 575018 India.
⁴ Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology & Regenerative Medicine (DST-FIST Sponsored centre), Department of Biochemistry, JSS Medical College, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research, Mysuru, Karnataka 570015 India.
⁵ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 19104 United States.
⁶ Nitte University Centre for Stem Cell Research & Regenerative Medicine (NUCSReM), KS Hegde Medical Academy (KSHEMA), Nitte (Deemed to be University), Deralakatte, Mangaluru, Karnataka 575018 India.
⁷ Department of Surgical Oncology, KS Hegde Medical Academy (KSHEMA), Nitte (Deemed to be University), Deralakatte, Mangaluru, Karnataka 575018 India.
⁸ Department of Microbiology, KS Hegde Medical Academy (KSHEMA), Nitte (Deemed to be University), Deralakatte, Mangaluru, Karnataka 575018 India.

PMID: 38440516
PMCID: PMC10908691 (available on 2025-02-01)
DOI: 10.1007/s12070-023-04174-6

Abstract

The high incidence of oral carcinomas is due to its multifactorial etiology and the presence of various risk factors. Human Papillomavirus (HPV) has a proven role in the pathogenesis of oral carcinomas, but in the recent times there has been an increasing incidence of oral cancers who are negative for HPV infection. Also, these patients are non-smokers and non-drinkers so it could be speculated that these oral cancers are due to some other etiological factor probably of other viral infections. Therefore, this study examined the prevalence of Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) and Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) among oral cancer patients. This cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2019 to June 2020. Biopsy samples from 47 newly diagnosed untreated patients with oral malignancies were collected along with their demographic and clinicopathological information. DNA extracted from the biopsies was processed for nested PCR for the detection of EBV and HSV. All the samples tested negative for HPV and HSV infection. Nested PCR detected 29 cases (70.7%) to be positive for EBV. The non-cancerous adjacent tissues also were negative for HPV, EBV and HSV. The prevalence of EBV was found to be more in males (62.1%) and the highest number of cases was of the left buccal mucosa compromising 34% of the total cases. From the present study it can be concluded that EBV but not HSV infection is associated with an increased risk of developing oral cancers. Although, 70.7% of the patients were found to be positive for EBV whether the viral infection played any role in the driving the malignancy needs to be further elucidated.

Keywords: Co-infection; EBV; HSV; Nested PCR; Oncogenic virus; Oral cancer.

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