Review
Nature Reviews Cancer 4, 757-768 (October 2004) | doi:10.1038/nrc1452
Epstein–Barr virus: 40 years on
Lawrence S. Young1 & Alan B. Rickinson1 About the authors
Abstract
Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) was discovered 40 years ago from examining electron micrographs of cells cultured from Burkitt's lymphoma, a childhood tumour that is common in sub-Saharan Africa, where its unusual geographical distribution — which matches that of holoendemic malaria —indicated a viral aetiology. However, far from showing a restricted distribution, EBV — a 
-herpesvirus — was found to be widespread in all human populations and to persist in the vast majority of individuals as a lifelong, asymptomatic infection of the B-lymphocyte pool. Despite such ubiquity, the link between EBV and 'endemic' Burkitt's lymphoma proved consistent and became the first of an unexpectedly wide range of associations discovered between this virus and tumours.
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Author affiliations
- Cancer Research UK Institute for Cancer Studies, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
Correspondence to: Lawrence S. Young1 Email: l.s.young@bham.ac.uk
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