Analysis of Epstein–Barr virus infection in oral potentially malignant disorders and oral cancer: A cross-sectional study

Abstract The primary objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) in oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) and oral cancer (OC) in a group of Thais using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Epstein–Barr encoding regions (EBERs) in situ hybridization (ISH). The secondary objective is to investigate the risk factors of OC and the association between the presence of EBV and risk factors of OC/site of oral lesions. Sixty-one participants attending the screening project for OC and OPMDs at the Northeastern district hospitals of Thailand were recruited. Information related to risk factors and biopsy tissues for histopathological diagnosis was collected. Sixty-seven paraffin tissue blocks, including 52 OPMDs and 15 OC specimens, were investigated for EBV infection, using PCR analysis with latent membrane protein-1 (LMP-1) primer and EBERs ISH. Pearson’s Chi-square or Fisher’s exact test was used to analyze the differences in variables between participants with OPMDs and OC, as appropriate. The association between EBV infection and related risk factors was analyzed using logistic regression with a significant level at 0.05. Using PCR analysis, 8 of 67 specimens (11.94%) were positive for LMP-1. Three cases of OPMDs were positive for both LMP-1 PCR and EBERs ISH. Regarding risk factors of OC, the two most common risk factors were betel nut chewing (52.46%) and working in sunlight (42.62%). The habit of taking alcohol was significantly different between the OC and the OPMDs groups (p = 0.009). The association between LMP-1 and the lesion at the tongue was statistically significant, with odds ratio = 4.900 (95% confidence interval = 1.046–22.943; p = 0.044). The prevalence of EBV infection in this group of participants was low. However, OPMDs at the tongue exhibited a significant association with EBV infection.