Nartey Teiko, Mazzanti Chiara M, Melana Stella, Glenn Wendy K, Bevilacqua Generoso, Holland James F, Whitaker Noel J, Lawson James S, Pogo Beatriz G T
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY USA.
Department of Pathology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Infect Agent Cancer. 2017 Jan 4;12:1. doi: 10.1186/s13027-016-0113-6. eCollection 2017.
There is substantial evidence that a virus homologous to mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) may have a role in human breast cancer. The present study indicates that those who developed breast cancer associated with an MMTV-like virus had this virus in their non-cancerous breast tissues years before the cancer developed.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques and sequencing were used to identify MMTV-like envelope gene sequences (MMTV-like sequences) in Australian benign breast biopsy specimens from women who several years later developed breast cancer. Murine contamination was excluded by stringent laboratory procedures, and the absence of intracisternal A particle sequences and mitochondrial cyclooxygenase sequences.
MMTV-like sequences (also called HMTV sequences to denote their source) were found in 9 of 25 breast cancer specimens (36%). Among 25 non-cancerous breast biopsies of these same patients taken 1 to 11 years earlier, six contained MMTV-like sequences (24%). Five of the six were among the nine virally-associated breast cancers. In two pairs of specimens, benign and malignant, sequences were 97% identical.
The identification of MMTV (MMTV-like) sequences in breast tissues prior to the development of MMTV positive breast cancer fulfills a key criterion for a possible causal role for the MMTV-like virus in human breast cancer.
有大量证据表明，一种与小鼠乳腺肿瘤病毒（MMTV）同源的病毒可能在人类乳腺癌中起作用。本研究表明，那些罹患与MMTV样病毒相关乳腺癌的患者，在癌症发生数年前，其非癌性乳腺组织中就已存在这种病毒。
采用聚合酶链反应（PCR）技术和测序方法，对数年后罹患乳腺癌的澳大利亚女性的良性乳腺活检标本中的MMTV样包膜基因序列（MMTV样序列）进行鉴定。通过严格的实验室程序排除了鼠类污染，且未检测到内源性A颗粒序列和线粒体环氧化酶序列。
在25份乳腺癌标本中的9份（36%）发现了MMTV样序列（也称为HMTV序列以表明其来源）。在这些患者1至11年前采集的25份非癌性乳腺活检标本中，6份含有MMTV样序列（24%）。这6份中的5份出现在9例病毒相关的乳腺癌病例中。在两对良性和恶性标本中，序列的相似度为97%。
在MMTV阳性乳腺癌发生之前，在乳腺组织中鉴定出MMTV（MMTV样）序列，满足了MMTV样病毒在人类乳腺癌中可能具有因果作用的一项关键标准。
