Prevalence and characteristics of mouse mammary tumor virus-like virus associated breast cancer in China

Background Despite extensive molecular epidemiological studies, the prevalence and characteristics of Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus-Like Virus (MMTV-LV) in Chinese women breast cancer are still unclear. Besides, the prevalence of MMTV-LV in women breast cancer tissue varies in different countries and its dependent factors remain inconclusive. Methods In the first part of the study, a case-control study was performed. 119 breast cancer samples (84 from Northern China and 35 from Southern China) and 50 breast fibroadenoma specimens were collected from Chinese women patients. MMTV-like env sequence and the homology to MMTV env gene were analysed by semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We also explored the association of MMTV-LV prevalence with sample sources (Southern and Northern China) and patients’ clinicopathological characteristics. To investigate the dependent factors of the prevalence of MMTV-LV in breast cancer worldwide, a meta-analysis was conducted in the second part of the study. Results We found that the prevalence of MMTV-LV was much higher in breast cancer tissues (17.65%) than that in breast fibroadenoma specimens (4.00%) (P P P Conclusion The distribution of house mice may be a crucial environmental factor that explains the geographic differences in human breast cancer incidence. Our findings may provide a potential avenue of prevention, diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer.