The Meshing between Epstein Barr Virus Nuclear Antigen-1 and P53 in Iraqi Malignant Breast Tissues

Abstract

In Iraq, breast cancer incidence exceeds any other type of cancers and the etiology not understood well.
Epstein Barr virus is a gamma herpesviruses and one of carcinogenic viruses that may implicated to
breast carcinogenesis. The nuclear antigen-1 (EBNA-1) protein is the sole EBV antigen that presented
in all tumors related to EBV and plays pivotal roles in carcinogenesis of the virus. Examination applied
by immunohistochemistry (IHC) to detect and demonstrate the correlation between (EBNA-1) and tumor
suppressor protein (P53) expression. The study includes paraffin-embedded tissue blocks of ninety 90
malignant breast tissues and thirty 30 normal breast autopsies. EBNA-1 was significantly expressed in 40/90
(44.4%) of malignant tissues while its expression in normal breast tissues was negative in all tested cases.
The tumor suppressor protein P53 was showed negative expression in all normal breast tissues and positive
in 27/90 (30%) in malignant breast tissues. A significant negative relationship (r=-0.420; P<0.05) revealed
between EBNA-1and P53 expression. These finding reveal that EBNA-1 was evident in malignant breast
tissues and demonstrate the interplay between EBV and p53 raising the possibility that viral infection may
be involved in carcinogenesis process