Retrovirus potential risk factor for prostate cancer

A new study by researchers from University of Utah and Columbia University suggests that one type of retrovirus may be a cause of prostate cancer.

Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus or XMRV was present in 27 percent of prostate cancers compared to only 6 percent of health prostate cells, the study showed.

XMRV has already been known to cause leukemia and sarcomas in animals. The virus was found for the first time in malignant human prostate cancer cells.

If it is proved that the virus is responsible for 27 percent of prostate cancers, researchers may start developing diagnostic tests, vaccines and therapies for preventing and treating the disease, according to the study published Sept 7 online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Prostate cancer affects nearly 200,000 U.S. men each year.  Previous studies have linked elevated risk of this disease to vitamin D deficiency.

For the study Ila R. Singh, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pathology at University of Utah and colleagues examined more than 200 human prostate cancers and compared them to more than 100 non-cancerous prostate tissues.

The DNA of this virus was found in 27 percent of prostate cancers while the viral proteins were found almost exclusively in malignant prostate cells.

Retroviruses are dangerous because they can insert a copy of its genome into the chromosomes of the cells they infect. If the mutations occur adjacent to a gene that regulates cell growth, they can promote cell proliferation leading to the formation of a cancer.

Studies indicated that maintaining high levels of vitamin D in the body is very important because with sufficient levels of this nutrient, antibacterial peptides that fight both bacteria and viruses can be produced in cells.

By David Liu - davidl at foodconsumer dot org