Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) Infection and Undifferentiated Carcinoma of the Parotid Gland in Caucasian Patients

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been detected in certain types of lymphoma and some epithelial neoplasms such as nasopharyngeal lymphoepithelioma and occasional undilferentiated carcinomas in several organs including the salivary glands. However. clonal EBV genomes have been detected in undifferentiated carcinomas of the parotid gland exclusively in Alaskan natives and Eskimos. both groups being at the highest risk for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The authors investigated the possibility that EBV may be present in undifferentiated parotid carcinomas in Caucasian subjects. To test this hypothesis, in situ hybridization (ISH) technique with biotinylated EBV-DNA probes was utilized on routinely processed. paralh-embedded tissues from 7 cases of undilrerentiatcd carcinomas of the parotid gland. EBV genomes were demonstrated in the cytoplasm of tumor cells from 3 out of 7 specimens tested. Surprisingly, EBV genomes were found in 3 out of 5 (60%) undifferentiated carcinomas that had developed in patients with u h...