ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to evaluate the arguments favoring or disfavoring a causative role for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL) and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Circumstantial evidence has linked EBV infections to two human malignant tumors, BL and NPC. Serological surveys provided the initial clues linking EBV infections with BL and NPC. Seroresponses to EBV antigens in NPC patients bear some similarities to the reactivities of BL sera. The histological lesions induced in marmosets by EBV infections ranged from lymphoid hyperplasia with preservation of some normal nodal architecture to the tentative diagnosis of lymphoma based on the severe distortion of normal lymph node structure and cellular infiltrations. The demonstration of a significantly increased risk for the development of BL in children with high virus capsid antigens reactivity, in addition to seroepidemiological and biochemical data, seems to rule out a mere passenger role for EBV in BL.
