Conclusion
The present study establishes an association between LMP1 and patients with EBV positive breast cancer. The authors suggest that additional multicentric studies be conducted to strengthen the reliability and generalizability of the observations of the current study.
Results
Most of the patients were diagnosed with Infiltrating Ductal Carcinoma not otherwise specified (IDC-NOS), followed by Infiltrating Ductal Carcinoma + Ductal Carcinoma in situ (IDC + DCIS). The total of 25 tissues of breast carcinoma had positive EBV PCR results (19.23%). The co-relation between the molecular and immunohistochemical results was significant in 11/25 cases that showed immunoexpression for LMP1 by IHC. Sensitivity of 44% and specificity of 100% were observed for LMP1 IHC, having a PPV value of 100% and an NPV of 88%. No significant correlation was observed between age, tumor subtype, grade, stage with respect to EBV infection; however, there was a significant association with nodal metastasis with extra nodal extension in tumors that had EBV infection.