Dr. Paul H. Levine from The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services and his colleagues compared 38 samples of breast tumors from patients treated in Tunisia with samples from several other countries.
The authors found that on independent review by two laboratories, a significantly higher proportion of samples from Tunisia tested positive for an MMTV-specific genetic sequence compared to samples from North America, Europe and South America. While 74 percent of Tunisian samples tested positive, other studies reported only 36 percent positive cases from the U.S., 38 percent from Italy, 42 percent from Australia, and 31 percent from Argentina.
Further analysis showed that 89 percent of the MMTV-positive samples were from clinically and histologically aggressive tumors, including trends toward shorter disease-free intervals. The authors conclude: “These findings provide increasing evidence for a human breast cancer virus with geographic differences in prevalence.”
… that viruses had been linked to cancer. You learn something new everyday.