Infectious Agents and Cancer (Jun 2021)

Prevalence and characteristics of mouse mammary tumor virus-like virus associated breast cancer in China

  • Fa-liang Wang,
  • Xiao-li Zhang,
  • Ming Yang,
  • Jun Lin,
  • Yong-fang Yue,
  • Ya-dan Li,
  • Xian Wang,
  • Qiang Shu,
  • Hong-chuan Jin

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13027-021-00383-2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 1
pp. 1 – 14

Abstract

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Abstract Background Despite extensive molecular epidemiological studies, the prevalence and characteristics of Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus-Like Virus (MMTV-LV) in Chinese women breast cancer are still unclear. Besides, the prevalence of MMTV-LV in women breast cancer tissue varies in different countries and its dependent factors remain inconclusive. Methods In the first part of the study, a case-control study was performed. 119 breast cancer samples (84 from Northern China and 35 from Southern China) and 50 breast fibroadenoma specimens were collected from Chinese women patients. MMTV-like env sequence and the homology to MMTV env gene were analysed by semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We also explored the association of MMTV-LV prevalence with sample sources (Southern and Northern China) and patients’ clinicopathological characteristics. To investigate the dependent factors of the prevalence of MMTV-LV in breast cancer worldwide, a meta-analysis was conducted in the second part of the study. Results We found that the prevalence of MMTV-LV was much higher in breast cancer tissues (17.65%) than that in breast fibroadenoma specimens (4.00%) (P < 0.05). MMTV-LV prevalence in Chinese women breast cancer tissues was significantly different between Southern China (5.71%) and Northern China (22.62%) (P < 0.05). The prevalence of MMTV-LV also associates significantly with expression of HER2, but shows no significant correlation with other parameters. In the meta-analysis, we found that MMTV-LV prevalence in breast cancer tissue was dependent on the distribution of M. domesticus mouse (M. d), M. musculus mouse (M.m) and M.castaneus mouse (M.c) worldwide (P < 0.05). Conclusion The distribution of house mice may be a crucial environmental factor that explains the geographic differences in human breast cancer incidence. Our findings may provide a potential avenue of prevention, diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer.

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