REVIEW article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Thoracic Oncology
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1630415
This article is part of the Research TopicExploring Molecular Mechanisms in Cancer through Tumor Molecular PathologyView all 7 articles
Epstein-Barr Virus-Driven Molecular Pathogenesis of Primary Pulmonary
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical University, Guilin, 541002, Guangxi, China
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Primary Pulmonary Lymphoepithelial Carcinoma (PLEC) is a rare subtype of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that exhibits a strong association with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and shows distinctive geographic and ethnic predilections.Over the past decades, significant efforts have been made to elucidate the pathogenic mechanisms of PLEC, and progress in diagnosis, treatment, and disease monitoring has been achieved. This review focuses on EBV-driven oncogenic mechanisms in PLEC and explores the relationship between EBV infection, tumor progression, and clinical prognosis. We further summarize the molecular pathology, tumor immune microenvironment, and clinicopathological characteristics of PLEC. These insights may offer a theoretical foundation for EBV-targeted and immunotherapeutic strategies in PLEC.
Keywords: pulmonary lymphoepithelial carcinoma, Epstein-Barr virus, genomic landscape, Tumor immune microenvironment, Immunotherapy
Received: 03 Jun 2025; Accepted: 25 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xie, Yao, Lei, Tang and Mo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Bi Mo, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical University, Guilin, 541002, Guangxi, China
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