Someone sent me this rather startling news that Simian Virus 40
has been found in 43% of non-Hodgkins lymphoma samples, as well as
the same percentage of people with HIV1. These studies have been
published in the most recent release of the journal Lancet.
Please note the comment below, "it appears that SV40 continues to
spread among humans in ways that are not yet clear."
Best wishes, Char
Two articles in the 3/9/02 Lancet report on the finding of SV40 infection in 42% and 43% of non-Hodgkin lymphoma samples.
As concerns SV40 in HIV-1-related NHL, Vilchez et al. state:
"Polyomavirus T antigen sequences, all of which were SV40-specific,
were detected in 64 (42%) of 154 non-Hodgkin lymphomas, none of 186
non-malignant lymphoid samples, and none of 54 control cancers.
This difference was similar for HIV-1-infected patients and
HIV-1-uninfected patients alike. Few tumors were positive for
both SV40 and Epstein-Barr virus."
Public release date: 7-Mar-2002
Contact: Lori Williams
loriw@bcm.tmc.edu
713-798-4712
Baylor College of Medicine
SV40 found in human lymphoma samples
HOUSTON-- (March 9, 2002) -- Evidence of simian virus 40 (SV40) infection found in 42 percent of non-Hodgkin lymphoma samples could shed new light on the genesis of these blood cancers that have become more common over the past 30 years, said Baylor College of Medicine scientists in a report in the March 9 issue of The Lancet, a British scientific journal. About 55,000 new cases of the disease are diagnosed annually.
"This is an important finding because cancers with a viral cause offer the possibility of developing new and better ways of treating and diagnosing and ultimately preventing the tumor," said Dr. Janet Butel, chairman of the department of molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor and senior author of the report.
"This study further demonstrates that humans can be infected by SV40, an infection that was not suspected in the past," she said. SV40 usually infects rhesus monkeys. However, in the 1950s and early 1960s, some batches of polio vaccine became accidentally infected with the virus. The vaccine was then given to millions of people worldwide. Because some patients with SV40-positive tumors were born after 1963 and would not have been exposed to the contaminated vaccine, it appears that SV40 continues to spread among humans in ways that are not yet clear. Recently, evidence of SV40 infection has also been found in human brain tumors, tumors of the lining of the chest and abdomen (mesothelioma), and osteosarcomas.
In their study, Butel and Dr. Regis Vilchez, an assistant professor of medicine and first author on the report in The Lancet, analyzed samples from 154 patients who had lymphomas and found 42 percent positive for SV40 DNA, whereas many control samples were negative.
Dr. Adi Gazdar, a colleague at the University of Texas Southwestern
Medical School in Dallas, performed a similar study that confirmed the
presence of SV40 in samples of non-Hodgkin lymphomas. His study also
appears in the March 9 issue of The Lancet.
Lancet, 2002 March 9; 359: 817-23
Association between simian virus 40 and non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Regis A Vilchez, Charles R Madden, Claudia A Kozinetz, Steven J. Halvorson, Zoe S White, Jeffrey L Jorgensen, Chris J Finch, Janet S. Butel
Departments of Medicine (R A Vilchez MD), Molecular Virology and
Microbiology (R A Vilchez, C R Madden PhD, S J Halvorson BS,
Z S White BS, J S Butel PhD), Pediatrics (C A Kozinetz PhD), and
Pathology (J L Jorgensen MD, C J Finch MD), and Baylor Center for
AIDS Research (R A Vilchez, C A Kozinetz, J L Jorgensen, C J Finch,
J S Butel), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
E-mail: rvilchez@bcm.tmc.edu)
Abstract: Background Non-Hodgkin lymphoma has increased in frequency over the past 30 years, and is a common cancer in HIV-1-infected patients. Although no definite risk factors have emerged, a viral cause has been postulated. Polyomaviruses are known to infect human beings and to induce tumours in laboratory animals. We aimed to identify which one of the three polyomaviruses able to infect human beings (simian virus 40 [SV40], JC virus, and BK virus) was associated with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Methods We analysed systemic non-Hodgkin lymphoma from 76 HIV-1-infected and 78 HIV-1-uninfected patients, and non-malignant lymphoid samples from 79 HIV-1-positive and 107 HIV-1-negative patients without tumours; 54 colon and breast carcinoma samples served as cancer controls. We used PCR followed by Southern blot hybridisation and DNA sequence analysis to detect DNAs of polyomaviruses and herpesviruses.
Findings Polyomavirus T antigen sequences, all of which were SV40-specific, were detected in 64 (42%) of 154 non-Hodgkin lymphomas, none of 186 non-malignant lymphoid samples, and none of 54 control cancers. This difference was similar for HIV-1--infected patients and HIV-1-uninfected patients alike. Few tumours were positive for both SV40 and Epstein-Barr virus. Human herpesvirus type 8 was not detected. SV40 sequences were found most frequently in diffuse large B-cell and follicular-type lymphomas.
Interpretation SV40 is significantly associated with some types
of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. These results add lymphomas to the types
of human cancers associated with SV40.
Lancet, 2002 March 9; 359: 851-52
Presence of simian virus 40 DNA sequences in human lymphomas
Narayan Shivapurkar, Kenichi Harada, Jyotsna Reddy, Richard H. Scheuermann, Yin Xu, Robert W McKenna, Sara Milchgrub, Steven H Kroft, Ziding Feng, Adi F Gazdar
Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research (N Shivapurkar PhD, K Harada MD, J Reddy MD, A F Gazdar MD) and Department of Pathology (N Shivapurkar, R Scheuermann PhD, Y Xu MD, R W McKenna MD, S Milchgrub MD, S H Kroft MD, A F Gazdar), University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA; and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, Seattle, WA, USA (Z Feng PhD) E-mail: adi.gazdar@utsouthwestern.edu
Abstract: Simian virus 40 (SV40)--a potent oncogenic virus--has been
associated previously with some types of human tumours, but not with lymphomas.
We examined human tumours for the presence of specific SV40 DNA sequences by
PCR and Southern blotting. Viral sequences were present in 29 (43%) of 68
non-Hodgkin lymphomas, and in three (9%) of 31 of Hodgkin's lymphomas.
Viral sequences were detected at low frequencies (about 5%) in 235 epithelial
tumours of adult and paediatric origin, and were absent in 40 control tissues.
Our data suggest that SV40 might be a cofactor in the pathogenesis of non-Hodgkin lymphomas.