Epstein-Barr virus and epithelial cells: a possible role for the virus in the development of cervical carcinoma.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is an oncogenic herpesvirus associated with certain B cell lymphomas in humans and also with an epithelial tumour, undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Infection with EBV is widespread and once infected, individuals become life-long virus carriers. Epithelial cells of the pharynx have been implicated as the primary site of EBV persistence. Ectocervical epithelial cell cultures have proved useful for investigating EBV infection in vitro but only recently has EBV been shown to infect the uterine cervix in vivo. The demonstration that EBV replicates in cervical epithelium raises the possibility of venereal transmission, and suggests that the virus may be involved in cervical pathology.