Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is a leading cause of death among women worldwide. The association between Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) and Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and breast cancer risk still remains controversial making it difficult to determine whether either, both or neither virus is causally associated with breast cancer. The aim of this study was to detect EBV and the expression of the Immediate Early Antigen (IE) of HCMV in breast cancer in Sudanese women.

Method: 60 Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue blocks from 42 ductal breast carcinoma and18 benign breast tumors (control group) were obtained from the pathology laboratories of several hospitals in Khartoum State, Sudan, and used in this study. We used PCR to detect EBV and the IE-antigen of HCMV in ductal breast carcinoma and benign breast tumor.

Result: Only 3 (7%) out of 42 ductal breast carcinoma were positive for EBV DNA and none of 18 benign breast tumor (control group) were positive for EBV DNA and all 60 specimens were negative for IE-antigen of HCMV expression.

Conclusion: The results of this study failed to show any relationship between EBV and HCMV and the development of breast carcinoma in the tested specimens.

Keywords: Breast cancer; Polymerase chain reaction; Cytomegalovirus; Epstein-barr virus