Study reveals how 'EBV' virus that spreads through saliva can lead to cancer

Sharing food with your loved ones is often considered a way to deepen the love and care two people share. However, a study published in the journal Nature shows that a virus that is primarily spread through saliva can evolve into cancer. This virus can be transmitted when people kiss, or share drinks or food and affects more than 90 per cent of the world's population.

The virus is called Epstein-Barr virus or EBV and it is the cause of infectious mononucleosis or mono and other infections. As per an ANI news agency report, the virus frequently comes with no symptoms. 

Most EBV infections are small and transient, however, in some cases, the virus can go dormant and reactivate later. 

Long-lasting latent infections, i.e., infections by an organism that has for some time been inactive in the body, are associated with a number of cancers as well as several chronic inflammatory disorders.

Researchers at the University of California San Diego have discovered how the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) can exploit genomic weaknesses to trigger cancer, while also decreasing the body's ability to suppress it. 

They found that the virus induces cleavage of human chromosome 11, and triggers genomic instability, which can activate a leukaemia-causing oncogene and reduce the function of a major tumour suppressor. 

Throughout every person's genome, there are fragile sites that are more prone to producing mutations, breaks, or gaps when replicating, some of which can cause cancer. The researchers found that EBNA1, a viral protein that remains in cells infected with EBV, binds to a fragile site on human chromosome 11, triggering chromosomal breakage. 

Examining whole-genome sequencing data for 2,439 cancers across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes project, they found that cancer tumours with detectable EBV had higher levels of chromosome 11 abnormalities. This was found to be true in cases including 100 per cent of head and neck cancer cases. 

The findings could help identify at-risk individuals who are susceptible to developing latent infection-associated diseases, as the EBV virus is generally harmless for most people, said the study's first author Julia Li, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in Cleveland's lab.

"For a ubiquitous virus that is harmless for the majority of the human population, identifying at-risk individuals susceptible to the development of latent infection-associated diseases is still an ongoing effort," she said.

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