Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with 8% of gastric carcinomas (GC) worldwide, being the most frequent EBV-associated malignancy with 80,000 new cases per year. The association is based on the presence of clonal EBV products in gastric tumour cells, and elevated EBV antibodies in pre-diagnostic sera. EBV-associated GC are twice as common in males and often associated to cancer in the cardia-region. Gastric surgery increases the risk significantly. Until now, no clear interaction between Helicobacter pylori, the single most important risk factor for GC, and EBV has been established.