{"entity":{"id":"paper-epstein-virus-particles-burkitt-lymphoblasts-lancet-1964","kind":"paper","name":"Virus particles in cultured lymphoblasts from Burkitt's lymphoma","aka":["Epstein 1964","Epstein, Achong and Barr","Discovery of Epstein-Barr virus"],"tldr":"Looking at cells grown from an African child's jaw tumour under an electron microscope, three researchers in London saw virus particles, the first virus ever linked to a human cancer.","summary":"Michael Anthony Epstein, Bert Achong and Yvonne Barr reported virus particles in lymphoblasts cultured from a Burkitt lymphoma biopsy. Europe PMC indexes no abstract for the Lancet report, so no figure from it is quoted here.\n\nIts importance is categorical rather than numerical: it was the first demonstration of a virus in a human tumour, and it opened the field that now includes human papillomavirus and cervical cancer, hepatitis B and C and liver cancer, Helicobacter pylori and gastric MALT lymphoma, human herpesvirus 8 and Kaposi sarcoma and primary effusion lymphoma, and human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 and adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma.\n\nEpstein-Barr virus is now known to infect most of the world's adult population harmlessly and to be associated with endemic Burkitt lymphoma, a subset of Hodgkin lymphoma, Epstein-Barr virus-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Two companion papers from the same group appeared in the same year, on the cultivation of the lymphoblasts (PubMed 14090852) and on a second virus-carrying strain (PubMed 14255814).","asOf":"2026-10-01","links":[{"label":"Lancet 1964","url":"https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(64)91524-7"},{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14107961/"},{"label":"Europe PMC","url":"https://europepmc.org/article/MED/14107961"}],"tags":["lymphoma-evidence"],"related":["paper-burkitt-sarcoma-involving-jaws-african-children-br-j-surg-1958","idea-prev-ebv-vaccine","lymphoma-roadmap"],"cancers":["burkitt-lymphoma","non-hodgkin-lymphoma","hodgkin-lymphoma","post-transplant-lymphoproliferative-disorder"],"sections":["prevention","diagnostics"],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":["b-prevention-adoption","b-global-access"],"keyPapers":[],"journals":["lancet"],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"journal":"Lancet","year":1964,"doi":"10.1016/S0140-6736(64)91524-7","pmid":"14107961","authors":"Epstein MA, Achong BG, Barr YM.","paperType":"basic","findings":["Reported virus particles in lymphoblasts cultured from Burkitt's lymphoma, the first virus observed in a human tumour.","Europe PMC indexes no abstract for this record, so no figure from the paper is quoted here.","Two companion reports from the same group appeared in 1964: on the cultivation in vitro of human lymphoblasts from Burkitt's malignant lymphoma (PubMed 14090852) and on a second virus-carrying tissue culture strain (PubMed 14255814)."],"whatItMeans":"The start of viral oncology. Everything in cancer prevention that works by preventing or treating an infection, from hepatitis B vaccination to Helicobacter eradication for gastric MALT lymphoma, descends from the idea this paper established.","caveats":["No abstract is indexed, and the 1964 report establishes the presence of virus particles rather than causation; the causal argument was built over the following decades.","Epstein-Barr virus infects most adults worldwide without causing cancer, so its presence in a tumour is necessary rather than sufficient and the cofactors in endemic Burkitt lymphoma, including malaria, remain the subject of research."],"changedPractice":true},"route":"/key-papers/paper-epstein-virus-particles-burkitt-lymphoblasts-lancet-1964/","neighbours":{"paper":[{"id":"paper-burkitt-sarcoma-involving-jaws-african-children-br-j-surg-1958","kind":"paper","name":"A sarcoma involving the jaws in African children","route":"/key-papers/paper-burkitt-sarcoma-involving-jaws-african-children-br-j-surg-1958/"}],"idea":[{"id":"idea-prev-ebv-vaccine","kind":"idea","name":"An Epstein-Barr virus vaccine to prevent nasopharyngeal cancer and lymphomas","route":"/ideas/idea-prev-ebv-vaccine/"}],"roadmap":[{"id":"lymphoma-roadmap","kind":"roadmap","name":"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","route":"/roadmaps/lymphoma-roadmap/"}],"cancer":[{"id":"burkitt-lymphoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Burkitt lymphoma","route":"/cancers/burkitt-lymphoma/"},{"id":"hodgkin-lymphoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Hodgkin lymphoma","route":"/cancers/hodgkin-lymphoma/"},{"id":"non-hodgkin-lymphoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (all types)","route":"/cancers/non-hodgkin-lymphoma/"},{"id":"post-transplant-lymphoproliferative-disorder","kind":"cancer","name":"Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD)","route":"/cancers/post-transplant-lymphoproliferative-disorder/"}],"section":[{"id":"diagnostics","kind":"section","name":"Diagnostics & Biomarkers","route":"/fronts/diagnostics/"},{"id":"prevention","kind":"section","name":"Prevention & Risk","route":"/fronts/prevention/"}],"bottleneck":[{"id":"b-global-access","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Most of the world has almost no cancer care","route":"/bottlenecks/b-global-access/"},{"id":"b-prevention-adoption","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Prevention we already have is not deployed","route":"/bottlenecks/b-prevention-adoption/"}],"journal":[{"id":"lancet","kind":"journal","name":"The Lancet","route":"/journals/lancet/"}]}}