Link between virus and breast cancer
22 November 2004
Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist.
A study of breast tissue reveals that many samples are infected with a common virus linked to one which causes cancer in mice.We already know that viral infections can play a role in cancer. For instance, human papilloma virus is a key risk factor for cervical cancer. Now researchers at George Washington University in the US reveal that a virus similar to that known to cause cancer in mice is common in breast tumors occurring in Tunisian women.
They found mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) in as many as 74 per cent of tumors from Tunisian women. But only 36 per cent of a sample from the US had the virus, 38 per cent of samples from Italy, 42 per cent from Australia, and 31 per cent from Argentina. This suggests that there is strong geographical variation in the risk factors for breast cancer, at least when it comes to viruses. MMTV may be spread by a species of house mouse that is common in north Africa, but less so in other countries
Source Cancer online 12th July 2004