This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Comar, M. Articles by Campello, C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Comar, M. Articles by Campello, C.

SV40 Multiple Tissue Infection and Asbestos Exposure in a Hyperendemic Area for Malignant Mesothelioma

¹ Department of Public Medicine Sciences, University of Trieste, and Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico Burlo Garofolo, ² Department of Clinical, Morphological and Technological Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy and ³ Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas

Requests for reprints: Cesare Campello, Department of Public Medicine Sciences, University of Trieste, Via dell'Istria 65/1, 34137 Trieste, Italy. Phone: 39-040-773433; Fax: 39-040-7600324; E-mail: campello{at}burlo.trieste.it.

To assess the presence of SV40 in malignant mesothelioma tissue, 19 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded pleural cancer samples of patients from a hyperendemic area of northeastern Italy were analyzed retrospectively. A total of 48 other tissues from the malignant mesothelioma subjects were investigated. The SV40 load was determined by real-time quantitative PCR. Exposure to asbestos was evaluated through a careful review of the occupational history of patients, supplemented by histology and isolation of asbestos bodies. Three of 19 (15.8%) malignant mesothelioma tissues harbored SV40 genomic signals. Two patients with SV40-positive malignant mesothelioma had viral sequences in another tissue. Overall, 3 of 18 (16.7%) normal liver tissues tested positive for SV40, as did 1 of 8 (12.5%) kidney tissues. SV40 viral loads were higher in malignant mesothelioma than in normal cells (P = 0.045). This survey shows that SV40 sustains infections in multiple tissues in malignant mesothelioma patients from a geographic area affected with asbestos-related mesothelioma. [Cancer Res 2007;67(18):8456–4]