Epstein-Barr virus – A Review

Abstract

The unraveling of the molecular pathogenesis of malignancy that had its beginnings in the last third of the twentieth century was, in many ways, sparked by the discovery of virus-associated tumors and oncogenic viruses. Epstein Barr virus (EBV) and other viruses that soon followed were not only exciting stories in themselves, but provided models with starting points and outcomes, which, since they were specific, could be dissected and generalized. In these annals, EBV qualifies as a human tumor virus, the first identified virus. According to latest survey of literature, it has all the features of DNA tumor viruses including consistency of association with given tumors at the epidemiological and molecular level and oncogenic properties in cell culture and animal models. The diversity of tumors caused by or associated with EBV infection, which are both lymphoid and epithelial in origin, is certainly the greatest for any tumor virus and complicates questions of causality. EBV-associated tumors include lymphomas, carcinomas, and even rare myosarcomas. However, this seemingly paradoxical spectrum can be rationalized by the pathobiologic features of EBV infection. Even mild or non-life-threatening infection with EBV can, occasionally, be associated with the development of serious complications from the infection and if a particular blood cell involved in the immune response, almost all organs systems can ultimately be affected by EBV infection.