# An Epstein-Barr virus vaccine to prevent nasopharyngeal cancer and lymphomas

Source: https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-prev-ebv-vaccine/  
OnCo record `idea-prev-ebv-vaccine` (Idea). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

EBV infects almost everyone and causes nasopharyngeal cancer, some lymphomas and some stomach cancers. A vaccine given before infection could remove those cancers.

## Summary

Epstein-Barr virus infects almost everyone and causes nasopharyngeal cancer, some lymphomas and some stomach cancers, so this idea accelerates development of an EBV vaccine given before infection, with infection prevention and infectious mononucleosis as first endpoints and later deployment in high-incidence nasopharyngeal cancer regions. Moderna's mRNA-1189 and the NIH gp350 nanoparticle vaccine are in early trials, and HPV and HBV vaccines prove that preventing a viral infection prevents its cancers. The test is a phase 2 infection-prevention trial in EBV-seronegative adolescents. At early-clinical maturity it addresses the bottleneck Prevention we already have is not deployed and links to head and neck cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma and gastric cancer.

## Fields

- Kind: Idea
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Hypothesis: An EBV vaccine preventing at least 70% of primary infection in adolescents reduces EBV-associated cancers by a similar fraction in vaccinated cohorts over decades.
- Rationale: HPV and HBV vaccines prove the model; EBV-related cancers exceed 200,000 cases a year.
- Proposed test: Run a phase 2 infection-prevention trial in EBV-seronegative adolescents.
- Maturity: early-clinical
- Actor: industry

## Sources

- Bottleneck evidence (Prevention we already have is not deployed): Islami et al., Proportion of cancer attributable to modifiable risk factors (CA 2018): https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21440

## Connected records

- cancers: [Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/gastric/), [Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/head-and-neck/), [Hodgkin lymphoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/hodgkin-lymphoma/)
- fronts: [Prevention & Risk](https://onco.cc/fronts/prevention/)
- companies: [Moderna](https://onco.cc/companies/moderna/)
- bottlenecks: [Prevention we already have is not deployed](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-prevention-adoption/)
- key papers: [Proportion and number of cancer cases and deaths attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors in the United States](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-islami-ca-cancer-j-clin/), [Virus particles in cultured lymphoblasts from Burkitt's lymphoma](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-epstein-virus-particles-burkitt-lymphoblasts-lancet-1964/)
- roadmaps: [Lymphoma roadmap: from a jaw tumour in Uganda and the first human cancer virus to gene-expression subtypes, PET-adapted chemotherapy, CAR-T cells, bispecific antibodies and the genetics-directed trials now recruiting](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/lymphoma-roadmap/)

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