Exposure to bovine leukemia virus, a retrovirus that affects only cattle, is associated with human breast cancer, says a new study by researchers of the University of California, Berkeley.
The study, which was carried out to investigate whether a bovine virus might be an initiating agent for breast cancer, compared breast tissues of breast cancer patients with that of women with no history of breast cancer. According to the study findings, bovine leukemia virus, or BLV, was detected in 59% of tissue samples from women diagnosed with breast cancer compared to 29% of those with no history of breast cancer. It is not known how the subjects in this study became infected with BLV.
The virus could have come through the consumption of unpasteurized milk or undercooked meat, or it could have been transmitted by other humans, according to Gertrude Buehring, the lead author of the study.
If BLV were proven to be a cause of breast cancer, it could change the way we currently look at breast cancer control. It could shift the emphasis to prevention of breast cancer, rather than trying to cure or control it after it has already occurred, added Buehring.
The study is published in the journal PLOS ONE
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