Epstein–Barr virus infection and genome polymorphisms on gastric remnant carcinoma: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Previous studies reported that Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) may play a causal role in the pathogenesis of gastric remnant carcinoma (GRC). However, there was still some controversy. METHODS: Articles published until July 15, 2020, in PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase and CNKI databases were selected. According to the inclusion criteria, corresponding data of included articles were abstracted and used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Thirteen papers were finally enrolled, nine of which showed the result that the risk of EBV infection rate in the GRC was higher than conventional gastric carcinoma (OR = 5.22, 95% CI 3.89–7.00). In addition, we found that EBV associated GRC (EBVaGRC) had higher rate of Billroth-II (OR = 3.80, 95% CI 1.90–7.57), carcinoma in anastomotic site (OR = 2.41, 95% CI 1.27–4.56) and diffuse type (Lauren classification) (OR = 1.97, 95% CI 1.04–3.73),while sex, initial diagnosis and lymphocytic infiltration were calculated no statistical difference. By genetic polymorphism analysis, “V-val” subtype of EBNA1 (OR = 21.84, 95% CI 11.92–31.76) and “C” subtype of BamHI-W1/I1 (OR = 7.07, 95% CI 1.47–34.03) were observed to be highly expressed in EBVaGRC. CONCLUSION: EBV infection rate in the GRC was higher. Further analysis showed that Billroth-II, carcinoma in anastomotic site and diffuse type (Lauren classification) were associated to EBVaGRC. Through analysis of EBV genome polymorphisms, we thought that “V-val” subtype of EBNA1 and “C” subtype of BamHI-W1/I1 may become predictor of EBVaGRC.