Antibodies to simian vacuolating virus 40 in bladder cancer patients.

The occurrence of antibodies to herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and simian vacuolating virus 40 (SV40) (two presumptive oncogenic viruses) was investigated by the technique of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 233 patients with bladder cancer (200 males and 33 females) and in 466 controls (400 males and 66 females). The age of both the bladder cancer patients and controls varied from 55 to 65 years. A statistically significant association between bladder cancer and antibodies to SV40 was found in both males and females. No association between HSV-2 and bladder cancer was observed.