Is Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) infection a risk factor for nasopharyngeal carcinoma?

Ahmed, Hussain Gadel Karim; Suliman, Rania Saad Abdul Gader; Abd El Aziz, Mohammed Siddig; Alshammary, Fawaz D.; Altom, Faris Margani; Ginawi, Ibrahim A

doi:10.21608/eajbsg.2014.16496

Is Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) infection a risk factor for nasopharyngeal carcinoma?

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Molecular Diagnostics and Personalized Therapeutics Unit, University of Hail, KSA; Department of Histopathology and Cytology, FMLS, University of Khartoum, Sudan

² Department of Histopathology and Cytology, Faculty of Medical Laboratory Science, Sudan University for Science and Technology, Sudan

³ Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Applied Medical Science, University of Hail, KSA

⁴ Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Applied Medical Science, University of Taibah, KSA

10.21608/eajbsg.2014.16496

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to screen for the presence
of HSV in patients with nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC). Methodology:
Formalin fixed paraffin wax processed NPC tissue were obtained from 150 tissue
blocks and retrospectively investigated for the presence of HSV-1 and HSV-2
using polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Results: Of the 150 NPC tissue
specimens, Herpes Simplex Virus type 2 (HSV-2) was identified in 18/150 (12%)
samples. Out of the 18 samples infected with HSV-2, 15/97 (15.5%) among males
and 3/53(5.7%) were among females. Conclusion: The present have shown
some weak links between HSV and NPC. The great majority of samples harboring
HSV were also found to harbor EBV, which suggests the potentiality of EBV over
HSV.

Keywords