A proposed working model for the role of LMP1 in EBV pathogenesis in a developing NPC is illustrated in Fig. 5, in which initiating events leading to a subset of cells expressing LMP1 provide the oncogenic stimulus while cells suppressed for LMP1 expression or an LMP1 mechanism(s) provide the latent reservoir. This evidence concerns the gene PDLIM7 and nasopharyngeal carcinoma.