[Antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus in the sera of children with different neoplasms]

The presence of antibody to virus capsid antigen (VCA) of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was determined in sera from children with various forms of neoplasia by the indirect immunofluorescence procedure of Henle. Eighty-one sera from children with Wilms tumor, teratoblastoma, reticulosarcoma, neuroblastoma, soft tissue sarcoma, as well as from children with benign tumors were examined. The controls included sera from normal children of the same ages. The test cells synthesizing VCA were suspension cultures of P3HR-1 cells which are one of the clones of Burkitt lymphoma. The studies showed no increase in the content of antibody to EBV in any of the groups of children with tumors as compared with the controls. It was also found that the percentage of EBV infection in various groups of sick and normal children varied from 82 to 100.