EC Nursing and Healthcare

Background: The exact cause of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a severe cancer in Sudan, is still under assessment. Substantial progress has been made in understanding the contribution of infections to the aggressive transformation of B-cells, where Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has indeed been reported as transformative triggers. The identity of an infectious agent remained anonymous. As there is no specific candidate agent in sight, we assumed that the EBV might be implicated in the underlying cause of leukemia.

Methods: A total of 90 participants were recruited for this study. Of these, 42 were ALL pediatric leukemia patients, 8 were positive-control patients with EBV-associated lymphoid malignancies and 40 were healthy individuals. They were tested for EBV-IgG antibodies. Only positive samples were detected by the PCR targeting the EBV BamH1W region.

Results: Tests have demonstrated the detectability of EBV DNA in a number of leukemia and control patients. Almost all subjects had EBV-IgG positive (> 85% of cases and controls) whereas EBV DNA was detected in 20% of cases (N = 42) and was not found in controls.

Conclusion: Our conclusion stated that there was no EBV DNA in all leukemic cells, and therefore most likely infection did not lead to ALL in Sudanese children.

Keywords: EBV; PCR; Leukemia; Diagnosis; BamH1W Region

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