Breast cancer virus

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Since the 1930s, searches for a breast cancer virus that could cause breast cancer in women , analogous to the mouse mammary tumor virus that is known to cause benign breast tumors in mice , have been searched . The search for and characterization of such a virus is still ongoing. The development of breast cancer as part of a specific viral infection has so far not been proven in either women or men.

Research approaches for viral causes

In 1988, researchers at Liverpool University showed that in 97% of breast cancer patients, monocytes removed and grown in cell cultures showed activity of the enzyme reverse transcriptase , which is required by retroviruses to integrate into the host cell's DNA , while this is happening only applied to 11% of the people in a control group. Furthermore, virus-like particles could be isolated from monocytes and also from macrophages in the same patients , but not from the cancer cells themselves.

Using the PCR technique, some research groups discovered genetic material from all of these viruses in the tissue of women with breast cancer. However, these findings are very controversial in the professional world and not generally recognized. Confirmations from other working groups have so far been missing.

The first successful transmission of a suspected human breast cancer virus to mice was achieved in 1977 by Basombrio, Mayer and Rivell. However, since only 3% of the mice in this experiment diseased breast cancer and most infected mice instead of breast lymphoma developed, this discovery that in the of was Virchow founded Archive for tumor research published had been given no meaning. In 1995, Japanese researchers succeeded again in transmitting breast cancer from humans to mice, whereby, as before, researchers Basombrio and colleagues induced lymphomas.

In 1990 antibodies against retroviruses of types C and D were found in breast tumors.

Possible candidates

Possible candidates for such a virus are or were

Mouse mammary tumor virus

When looking for a breast cancer virus in humans, it was initially believed that one had to look for a virus similar to the corresponding mouse virus (MMTV). There were individual indications in the form of positive test results for a human breast tumor virus .

The mouse mammary tumor virus can infect human cells.

Epstein-Barr Virus, Human Herpes Virus 8

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was examined for its occurrence. EBV, which is detectable in almost half of the carcinoma samples, is seen less as the cause, but it worsens the response of breast cancer cells to chemotherapy with taxanes , so that its detection in practice could be important.

In addition to EBV, human herpesvirus-8 (HHV8) has also been detected in breast cancer cells. EBV and HHV8 contain genes for viral interleukins , specifically for Il-10 (EBV) and Il-6 (HHV8). The concentration of such interleukins increases in breast cancer patients during metastasis .

Bovine Leukemia Virus (BLV)

The bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is known to be transmitted from the mother to the calf via milk (lactogenic). That is why in Europe all infected animals are removed from the herds and slaughtered so that they are largely free of leukosis. It is noticeable that breast cancer is rare in countries where milk is not used for nutrition.

2001 reported Gertrude Case Buehring at the 23rd Congress of the International Association for Breast Cancer Research in Dusseldorf on the detection of DNA of the bovine leukemia - provirus BLV in human breast cancer cells. BLV is a virus that triggers (induces) lymphomas in most infected animal species and for which the formation of syncytia has previously been demonstrated. This property was so typical that giant cell formation was used to diagnose BLV infection prior to the development of more accurate detection methods.

In 2014, Buehring reported that the detection of BLV in human breast cancers is significantly higher.

Other approaches

Other researchers assume that Bovine Meat and Milk Factors and other pathogens are more general .

See also

  • Oncovirus (cancer-causing viruses in general)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ AM Al-Sumidaie, SJ Leinster, CA Hart, CD Green, K. McCarthy: Particles with properties of retroviruses in monocytes from patients with breast cancer . In: Lancet , 1988 Jan 2-9, 1 (8575-6), pp. 5-9, PMID 2447453
  2. ↑ MA Basombrio: An increased incidence of lymphoma in mice inoculated with human breast cancer extracts . In: Arch Geschwulstforsch. , 1977, 47 (8), pp. 679-684
  3. ↑ TF Malivanova: Antibodies to retroviruses of types C and D in female patients with benign and malignant mammary tumors . In: Acta Virol. , 1990 Feb, 34 (1), pp. 19-26
  4. ↑ James S Lawson: Viruses and human breast cancer. Future Microbiology, June 2006, Vol. 1, No. 1, pages 33-51 ( doi: 10.2217 / 17460913.1.1.33 ).
  5. ↑ Mouse breast cancer virus can infect human cells. 2005
  6. ↑ CY Kan, BJ Iacopetta, JS Lawson, NJ Whitaker: Identification of human papillomavirus DNA gene sequences in human breast cancer . In: Br J Cancer , 2005 Oct 17, 93 (8), pp. 946-948, PMID 16780823
  7. ↑ C Kroupis, A Markou, N Vourlidis, A Dionyssiou-Asteriou, ES Lianidou: Presence of high-risk human papillomavirus sequences in breast cancer tissues and association with histopathological characteristics .] In: Clin Biochem. , 2006 Jul, 39 (7), pp. 727-731, PMID 16780823 , Epub 2006 Jun 15.
  8. ↑ Tsai JH, Tsai CH, Cheng MH, Lin SJ, Xu FL, Yang CC: Association of viral factors with non-familial breast cancer in Taiwan by comparison with non-cancerous, fibroadenoma, and thyroid tumor tissues. J med Virol 2005 Feb; 75 (2): 276-81
  9. ↑ Gertrude Case Buehring: Bovine Leukemia Virus Infection and Human Breast Cancer Risk.
  10. ↑ Gertrude Case Buehring, KY Choi, HM Jensen: Bovine leukemia virus in human breast tissues. 2001
  11. ↑ wwwnc.cdc.gov
  12. ↑ journals.plos.org
  13. ↑ welt.de