Epstein-Barr virus causes cancer

The Epstein-Barr virus, or EBV, is a virus of the herpes family. This makes it a common virus that has infected almost everyone by droplet until the age of thirty. After the first infection, some viruses remain in the B lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, and can affect them in the further course of life under special circumstances.

Symptoms of acute infection

The typical disease caused by the virus is the Pfeiffer’s glandular fever (synonym: infectious mononucleosis, kissing disease). The predominantly young patients suffer from fever, tonsillitis (inflammation of the palatal tonsils) and swelling of the lymph nodes. Often the liver and spleen are also affected. These two organs become enlarged and in very rare cases can suffer long-term damage. The worst cases are a rupture of the spleen, which is associated with great blood loss, or an inflammation of the liver, known as hepatitis.

Cancer in EBV

Basically, there are some cancers that are associated with a previous EBV infection. However, several factors must be fulfilled for their development, which is why cancer caused by EBV is very rare, at least in industrialized countries, despite the high infestation. The possibility of cancer development is given by the persistence of the virus in the lymphocytes.

In the long term, the virus remains in the memory cells of the white blood cells. Problems can only be expected in the case of immunosuppression, i.e. insufficient work of the immune system. In Africa these are mainly malaria infections and AIDS. In this country, AIDS or drug suppression, for example after an organ transplant, are possible triggers. Tumors of the B cell series, so-called lymphomas, develop.

Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system, such as the lymph nodes or the spleen. EBV can often be detected in the tumor, but is not the only trigger of the disease. Of the EBV-associated cancers, lymphoma is the most common in the western world. Typical symptoms include painless swelling of lymph nodes, especially in the neck, as well as fever, night sweats, unintentional weight loss and enlargement of the liver and spleen. The prognosis of Hodgkin’s lymphoma is good thanks to chemotherapy, radiation and the use of new modern antibodies.