Betel quid chewing and alcohol consumption could be associated with detection of Epstein - Barr virus (EBV) DNA in oral squamous cell carcinoma tissues: Evidence from a subset of an unmatched case-control study

Introduction: There is a dearth of information on the detection of oncogenic EBV in oral squamous cell carcinoma tissues in the Sri Lankan context. This subset of an unmatched case-control study aims to detect EBV-DNA in oral squamous cell carcinoma tissues of a group of Sri Lankan male patients. Method Subset was selected representing the vast majority of OSCC patients in Sri Lanka, from an unmatched case-control study. Incisional biopsies of cases and excisional biopsies of controls were collected and stored at -80 0 C. DNA was extracted from frozen specimens, and Real-Time PCR was performed to detect target DNA of this ubiquitous virus, in histologically confirmed 27 Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) cases and clinically diagnosed 26 Fibroepithelial-Polyp (FEP) controls with better quality DNA. Socio-demographic and substance abuse data were collected from 29 cases and 25 controls by a pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire, and the data were entered and analyzed using the SPSS-21 Statistical Package. Results Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to determine the significance of qualitative and quantitative data statistically. The overall EBV prevalence was 34/53 (64.2%). In OSCC cases the EBV positivity was higher 21(77.8%) than the FEP controls 13 (50.0%), and this difference was statistically significant (p = 0.035). The cases were higher betel quid chewers (p = 0.003 ) and heavy alcohol consumers (p = 0.001 ) than the control group. Conclusion Betel quid chewing and alcohol consumption could be associated with the detection of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA in oral squamous cell carcinoma tissues which warrants further investigations.