Viruses in case series of tumors: Consistent presence in different cancers in the same subject

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 12; no. 3; p. e0172308
• Main Authors: Arroyo Mühr, Laila Sara, Hortlund, Maria, Bzhalava, Zurab, Nordqvist Kleppe, Sara, Bzhalava, Davit, Hultin, Emilie, Dillner, Joakim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 03-03-2017; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Analysis; Bioinformatics; Biology and Life Sciences; Cancer; Carcinoma, Basal Cell - genetics; Carcinoma, Basal Cell - pathology; Carcinoma, Basal Cell - virology; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Dermatology; DNA; Etiology; Female; Genomes; Health aspects; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; Human papillomavirus; Humans; Immunocompromised Host; Infections; Laboratories; Male; Medical diagnosis; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Melanoma; Papillomaviridae; Papillomaviridae - classification; Papillomaviridae - genetics; Papillomaviridae - isolation & purification; Papillomaviridae - pathogenicity; Papillomavirus infections; Pathology; Patients; Research and Analysis Methods; Risk factors; Sequences; Skin cancer; Skin diseases; Skin Neoplasms - genetics; Skin Neoplasms - pathology; Skin Neoplasms - virology; Transplants & implants; Tumorigenesis; Tumors; Viruses
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0172308

Studies investigating presence of viruses in cancer often analyze case series of cancers, resulting in detection of many viruses that are not etiologically linked to the tumors where they are found. The incidence of virus-associated cancers is greatly increased in immunocompromised individuals. Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is also greatly increased and a variety of viruses have been detected in NMSC. As immunosuppressed patients often develop multiple independent NMSCs, we reasoned that viruses consistently present in independent tumors might be more likely to be involved in tumorigenesis. We sequenced 8 different NMSCs from 1 patient in comparison to 8 different NMSCs from 8 different patients. Among the latter, 12 different virus sequences were detected, but none in more than 1 tumor each. In contrast, the patient with multiple NMSCs had human papillomavirus type 15 and type 38 present in 6 out of 8 NMSCs.