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:10.1186/s13027-021-00383-2

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

Infect Agent Cancer. 2021 Jun 26;16(1):47. doi: 10.1186/s13027-021-00383-2.

Authors

Fa-Liang Wang¹, Xiao-Li Zhang², Ming Yang³, Jun Lin⁴, Yong-Fang Yue⁵, Ya-Dan Li⁶, Xian Wang⁶, Qiang Shu^{7

8}, Hong-Chuan Jin⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Surgical Oncology, The Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Binsheng Road 3333, Hangzhou, 310052, China. 21118179@zju.edu.cn.
² Electron Microscope Room, Medical School of Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou, China.
³ Department of Surgical Oncology, The Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Binsheng Road 3333, Hangzhou, 310052, China.
⁴ Department of Medical Oncology, the Second People's Hospital of Jande, Hangzhou, China.
⁵ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
⁶ Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Medical Oncology, Key lab of Biotherapy in Zhejiang, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, East Qingchun Road 3, Hangzhou, 310000, China.
⁷ Department of Surgical Oncology, The Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Binsheng Road 3333, Hangzhou, 310052, China. shuqiang@zju.edu.cn.
⁸ Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Binsheng Road 3333, Hangzhou, 310052, China. shuqiang@zju.edu.cn.
⁹ Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Medical Oncology, Key lab of Biotherapy in Zhejiang, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, East Qingchun Road 3, Hangzhou, 310000, China. jinhc@zju.edu.cn.

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.

Keywords: Breast cancer; M. domesticus mouse; M.castaneus mouse; M.musculus mouse; Mouse mammary tumor virus-like virus (MMTV-LV).

Abstract

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