Frequency of BK virus genotypes in patients with colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

BK polyomavirus infection is prevalent and primarily asymptomatic, except for complications in kidney transplant recipients. Furthermore, its involvement in a tumorigenic family necessitates consideration in various malignancies such as urogenital tumors, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer (CRC), and brain cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This investigation encompassed 50 specimens of colorectal adenocarcinoma tumors, 50 adjacent tissues, and 40 urine samples, with patients having a mean age of 61 years ± 12.4 years. The detection of BK virus DNA VP1 gene and genotyping were carried out through nested-PCR and sequencing techniques.

RESULTS

Through the utilization of nested-PCR, BK virus DNA was identified in 15/50 (30%) colorectal tumor samples and 3/50 (6%) adjacent tissues (p-value = 0.008). Additionally, 6/40 (15%) urine samples exhibited positive results for BK virus DNA. Notably, among these findings, 9/15 BK virus positive tumor tissues (60%) and 3/6 BK virus positive urine samples (50%) were confirmed to be positive for BK virus subtype 4 (p-value < 0.001), whereas 2 tumor samples and 3 urine samples were attributed to BK virus type 1b2.

CONCLUSION

It is imperative to enhance one's understanding of the etiological and risk factors pertaining to cancers. The present findings offer substantiation of a potential correlation between BK virus infection and colorectal cancer. BK virus genotype 4 was found to be dominant among the CRC patients in this study.