Prevalence and characteristics of the MMTV-like associated breast carcinomas in Tunisia

in Cancer Letters (2008), 271(2), 222-230

The involvement of a retrovirus homologous to the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) in the pathogenesis of human breast cancer (BC) has long been assumed, but has never been proven. Previous studies have ... [more ▼]

The involvement of a retrovirus homologous to the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) in the pathogenesis of human breast cancer (BC) has long been assumed, but has never been proven. Previous studies have reported the detection of MMTV-like env sequences in variable proportions that did not exceed 40% of BC cases in several countries. However, these viral sequences have been found in higher proportion (74%) in Tunisian diagnosed with BC during the seventies. This study is an attempt to evaluate the current prevalence of MMTV-like env gene in BC in Tunisian women. We used semi-nested PCR that amplify a 190-bp MMTV-like env sequence, followed by direct sequencing to screen a series of 122 cases of BC randomly selected. The findings were correlated to clinicopathological data and immunohistochemical expression status of progesterone and oestrogen receptors, HER2, and P53. Specific MMTV-like env sequences were found in 17 (13.9%) cases of breast carcinomas, whereas the same sequences were not detected in matched normal breast tissues. The presence of the viral sequences correlates inversely with progesterone receptor expression (6.8% versus 20.3%; P = 0.03) and HER2 overexpression (3.1% versus 17.7%; P = 0.04). This present study confirms the presence of MMTV-like env sequences in BC in Tunisian women but describes an important decrease in the prevalence of the viral sequences compared with pervious studies. This reduction may be due to some changes in the virological characteristics or exposure to the virus. [less ▲]

Contribution de l’inactivation épigénétique des gènes BRCA1 et BRCA2 dans les cancers du sein sporadiques en Tunisie

in Bulletin du Cancer (2008)

Aberrant promoter hypermethylation of multiples tumor suppressor genes in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas correlates with the presence of simian virus 40 DNA sequences

Poster (2007)

Investigation of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) prevalence in thyroid carcinomas in Tunisia

in Virchows Archiv : An International Journal of Pathology (2007)

DNA promoter hypermethylation of BLU gene in invasive breast ductal carcinoma in Tunisia

in Virchows Archiv : An International Journal of Pathology (2007)

Prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus in Sjögren's syndrome in Tunisia

in Revue de Médecine Interne (2006), 27(7), 519-523