Staining pattern and clinicopathological features of Epstein-Barr virus, Latent Membrane protein 1 expression in patients with gastric carcinoma in Lake zone, Tanzania

BACKGROUND: Infectious agents such as the Epstein-Barr virus are responsible for 10% of gastric carcinomas worldwide. The lake zone in Tanzania lies in an Epstein-Barr virus-endemic (EBV) belt, and the contribution of EBV-related gastric carcinoma has not yet been established. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence, staining pattern and clinicopathological features of EBV-related gastric carcinoma at Bugando Medical Center. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at Bugando Medical Center. Latent membrane protein-1, stained on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks, to determine the prevalence and staining pattern of EBV-associated Gastric carcinoma. Data was entered and cleaned in Excel and then analyzed using STATA version 15. The Chi-square tests were used to assess associations at a significant level of p < 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 119 cases were evaluated, with 70 (58.8%) males and 49 (41.2%) females. The prevalence of LMP-1 overexpression was 48(40.3%). LMP-1 positive cases were significantly associated with age 45-60 years, poor differentiation and diffuse histological type. The expression pattern was predominantly nuclear in 37(77.1%), while 11(22.9%) were nuclear and cytoplasmic. CONCLUSIONS: Gastric carcinoma in our setting showed a high level of LMP-1 overexpression. These findings suggest that all patients aged 45-60 years, with poorly differentiated carcinoma and diffuse histological type, should be screened for LMP-1 overexpression as a predictive marker for targeted therapy and favorable prognostication.