Figure 1.

Schematic diagram of the representative protective or therapeutic strategies in development for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated diseases. EBV vaccination is always a high priority for children under 10 years old and there are no available commercial EBV vaccines. The morbidity and mortality of EBV-associated diseases are relatively low among young adults, so the first strategy is to anticipate, prevent, and diagnose the potential lymphomas. The majority of patients with EBV-associated lymphomas are more than 35 years old, and multiple approaches, including EBV-targeted therapies, are applied to treat these lymphomas. Although EBV is not able to induce the related lymphomas, it can play a critical role in the induction of a multistep process to carcinogenesis through accumulating mutations, in addition to other cofactors. These processes are highly associated with activities in the microenvironment and the host defense.