Journal Article

Epstein-Barr virus infection and oral squamous cell carcinoma risk: A meta-analysis

Wang, Menglin, She, Yangyang, Nong, Xiaolin, Zhang, Min

2017

Overview

The evidence for association between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and risk of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is inconsistent in the literature. Therefore, this meta-analysis was conducted to clarify this association. A literature search was conducted in electronic databases for English- and Chinese-language publications until March 31, 2017 to include eligible case-control studies. The pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were estimated to determine the association between EBV infection and OSCC risk using a fixed- or random-effects model based on heterogeneity. Publication bias was assessed using funnel plot analysis. A total of 13 case-control studies with 686 OSCC patients and 433 controls were included based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The pooled OR with 95% CI between EBV infection and OSCC risk was 5.03 (1.80-14.01) with significant heterogeneity observed (I2 = 87%). The subgroup analysis indicates that the year of publication, study location, economic level, sample size, tissue type, detection method and marker, control type, and language might explain potential sources of heterogeneity. Publication bias was not observed, and sensitivity analysis showed stable results. The results of the current meta-analysis suggest that EBV infection is statistically associated with increased risk of OSCC. However, additional high-quality studies with larger sample sizes are needed to further confirm the relationship between EBV and OSCC.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Alcohol / Bias / Biology and Life Sciences / Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - virology / Case studies / Case-Control Studies / Causes of / Confidence intervals / Deoxyribonucleic acid / Development and progression / DNA / Economic analysis / Epstein-Barr virus / Epstein-Barr Virus Infections - complications / Health aspects / Health risks / Heterogeneity / Hospitals / Human papillomavirus / Humans / Infections / Language / Lymphoma / Maxillofacial surgery / Medical ethics / Medicine and health sciences / Meta-analysis / Mouth cancer / Mouth Neoplasms - virology / Oral cancer / Oral squamous cell carcinoma / Otolaryngology / Physical Sciences / Physiological aspects / Polymerase chain reaction / Research and Analysis Methods / Risk analysis / Risk factors / Science Policy / Sensitivity analysis / Social Sciences / Squamous cell carcinoma / Statistical analysis / Studies / Surgery / Viruses