Detection of Cytomegalovirus in gastric cancer tissue samples compared with non-malignant and control groups in East Azerbaijan province by immunohistochemistry and PCR

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common gastrointestinal cancers that has become a major health problem worldwide. In recent years, various researchers have shown viruses to be involved in the pathogenesis of cancer. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of the presence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) in GC by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and PCR .

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 50 GC tissue samples were selected from paraffin blocks of hospitals in East Azerbaijan province along with 50 non-malignant samples (gastric ulcer) and 50 control samples. The presence of CMV viral infection was determined by IHC and PCR. SPSS software and Chi-square test were used to analyze the data.

In the malignant samples studied, 3 samples (6%) were immunohistochemically containing pp65 protein and 5 (10%) samples contained CMV DNA. But no viral protein and DNA were observed in non-malignant and control samples. IHC and CMV positive DNA samples had a mean age of 58.33 ±14.43 and 59.40 ± 12.50, respectively. Chi-square test did not show a significant relationship between IHC and CMV DNA samples.

In East Azerbaijan province, the presence of CMV is low and is more common in men over 50 years and older Considering that the presence of CMV was not the same as the results of IHC and positive CMV DNA, therefore, in this study, the PCR method was more accurate and efficient.