Abstract
Controversy exists regarding the association of bovine leukemia virus (BLV) and breast cancer. PCR-based experimental evidence indicates that BLV DNA is present in breast tissue and that as many as 37% of cancer cases may be attributable to viral exposure. Since this association might have major consequences for human health, we evaluated 51 whole genomes of breast cancer samples for the presence of BLV DNA. Among 32 billion sequencing reads retrieved from the NCBI database of genotype and phenotype, none mapped on different strains of the BLV genome. Controls for sequence divergence and proviral loads further validated the approach. This unbiased analysis thus excludes a clonal insertion of BLV in breast tumor cells and strongly argues against an association between BLV and breast cancer.
Highlights
bovine leukemia virus (BLV) naturally infects cattle, water buffalo, yak and zebu [1,2,3,4]
There is controversial evidence suggesting that BLV might infect humans: (1) antibodies against the BLV capsid were detected in 74% of human sera from the Berkeley Community, California [9], (2) BLV DNA was detected in breast tissues using PCR [10,11,12]
DbGaP [14, 15], paired-reads were probed for alignment on different BLV strains using Bowtie2
Summary
BLV naturally infects cattle, water buffalo, yak and zebu [1,2,3,4]. Sporadic infections with BLV have occasionally been reported in other species like alpaca [5]. DbGaP [14, 15], paired-reads were probed for alignment on different BLV strains using Bowtie2. Alignment of 51 breast tumors genomes on the nuclear control sequence identified between 283 and 1287 paired-reads (illustrated on Fig. 1 and summarized on Table 1).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
