UNC Lineberger’s Jennifer S. Smith, PhD, professor of epidemiology in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, was senior author of a study that found that identified Epstein-Barr virus as a possible high-risk co-factor for HPV-linked cervical cancer.
The study, published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases, examined the association between cervical Epstein-Barr virus, hrHPV, and cytology in female sex workers in Nairobi, Kenya. They found that women positive for Epstein-Barr virus had a higher prevalence, at 15 percent, of high-grade precancer than women negative for Epstein-Barr virus, at 2 percent.
“If it’s confirmed, I think the question here, is whether we could use EBV as an additional screening marker in addition to HPV to increase the specificity of our HPV primary screening scenario,” Smith said.
In addition to Smith, Nadja A. Vielot, PhD, MSPH, postdoctoral research associate in the UNC School of Medicine Department of Family Medicine, was also an author on the study.