Oncornaviruslike particles in human malignancies.

Mesenchymal and epithelial human malignancies were examined in the simultaneous detection test for the presence of particles with 70 S RNA and reverse transcriptase. Out of the 23 tumors tested 14 were found to be positive (61%). The finding that 2 uterine cancers contained 70 S RNA and reverse transcriptase indicates that uterine cancers may belong to the list of malignancies where the involvement of oncornaviruses is suspected. Out of the 10 human sarcomas examined in this study 4 were shown to contain particles with properties of oncornaviruses.