Human Cytomegalovirus DNA among Women with Breast Cancer

Document Type : Research Articles

Authors

1 Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center Health Research Institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.

2 Department of Virology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.

3 Department of Surgery, Imam Khoeini Hospital, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.

4 Department of Pathology, Imam Khoeini Hospital, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.

5 School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.

6 Biostatistic Department, School of Health, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common cause of death among women worldwide. Although there are many known risk
factors in breast cancer development, infectious diseases have appeared as one of the important key to contribute to
carcinogenesis formation. The effects of Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) on women with breast cancer has been
recently studied and reported. To contribute to this research trend, this study was conducted to evaluate the association
between HCMV and the women with breast cancer. Objective: This experiment aimed to evaluate HCMV DNA in women
with breast cancer in Ahvaz city, Iran. Materials and Methods: A total of 37 formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues of
the patients with ductal breast carcinoma and 35 paraffin embedded tissues of the patients with fibro adenoma as control
group were collected. The deparaffinization of all the samples were carried out and the DNA was extracted. Initially,
the PCR test was carried out to detect beta –globulin DNA as an internal control. For those samples positive for beta
–globulin DNA, Polymerase Chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect HCMV for the tests and control samples. Results:
Among 37 ductal breast carcinoma, 20 (54.04%) cases were proved positive for HCMV DNA by PCR. While among
the 35 control group (fibroadenoma), 10 (28.57%) cases were positive for HCMV DNA (P >0.028). The prevalences of
HCMV DNA among the age groups 30-39, 40-49 and >50 years were 7 (72.22%), 9 (69.23%), 4 (57.14%), respectively
(P=0.066). A high frequency of HCMV DNA was detected in tumor grade III, 13/18 (58.33%) compared with tumor
grade II, 7/19 (36.84%) (p=0.044). A high frequency of 16/24 (66.66%) of HCMV DNA was found in invasive ductal
breast cancer compared with 4/13 (30.76%) HCMV DNA in situ (P<0.028). Conclusion: A high prevalence of 54.05%
HCMV was found among the patients with ductal carcinoma. The percentages of the high prevalence of HCMV among
age group (40-49) years, tumors grades, and invasive stage were (69.23%), (58.33%), (66.66%), respectively. Further
study of HCMV in the latency phase in patients with ductal carcinoma would be necessary to extend our knowledge.

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