Case Control Study
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World J Gastroenterol. Nov 14, 2014; 20(42): 15745-15749
Published online Nov 14, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i42.15745
Could JC virus provoke metastasis in colon cancer?
Emanuele Sinagra, Dario Raimondo, Elena Gallo, Mario Stella, Mario Cottone, Ambrogio Orlando, Francesca Rossi, Emanuele Orlando, Marco Messina, Giovanni Tomasello, Attilio Ignazio Lo Monte, Ennio La Rocca, Aroldo Gabriele Rizzo
Emanuele Sinagra, Dario Raimondo, Francesca Rossi, Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Unit, Fondazione Istituto San Raffaele-G Giglio, Contrada Pietra Pollastra Pisciotto, 90015 Cefalù, Italy
Emanuele Sinagra, PhD course in Surgical Biotechnology and Regenerative Medicine, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Emanuele Sinagra, Giovanni Tomasello, Attilio Ignazio Lo Monte, Euro-Mediterranean Institute of Science and Technology (IEMEST), 90139 Palermo, Italy
Elena Gallo, Mario Stella, Aroldo Gabriele Rizzo, Unit of Pathology, Ospedali Riuniti Villa Sofia - Cervello, University of Palermo, 90136 Palermo, Italy
Mario Cottone, Ambrogio Orlando, Emanuele Orlando, DIBIMIS, Unit of Internal Medicine, Ospedali Riuniti Villa Sofia - Cervello, University of Palermo, 90136 Palermo, Italy
Marco Messina, Oncology Unit, Fondazione Istituto San Raffaele-G Giglio, Contrada Pietra Pollastra Pisciotto, 90015 Cefalù, Italy
Giovanni Tomasello, Attilio Ignazio Lo Monte, Department of Surgical and Oncological Disciplines, School of Medicine, University of Palermo, 90136 Palermo, Italy
Ennio La Rocca, Unità Operativa di Medicina interna e trapiantologia, Ospedale San Raffaele, 20132 Milano, Italy
Author contributions: Sinagra E wrote the paper; Gallo E and Rizzo AG designed the project of the study; Stella M collected the pathological data; Orlando E, Rossi F, Tomasello G and Messina M collected the clinical data; Orlando A, Raimondo D, La Rocca E and Lo Monte AI, Cottone M revised critically the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Emanuele Sinagra, MD, Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Unit, Fondazione Istituto San Raffaele-G Giglio, Contrada Pietra Pollastra Pisciotto, 90015 Cefalù, Italy. emanuelesinagra83@googlemail.com
Telephone: +39-921-920712 Fax: +39-921-920406
Received: November 29, 2013
Revised: May 5, 2014
Accepted: May 19, 2014
Published online: November 14, 2014
Abstract

AIM: To evaluate the prevalence of John Cunningham virus (JC virus) in a small cohort of patients with colon cancer and to assess its presence in hepatic metastasis.

METHODS: Nineteen consecutive patients with histologically diagnosed colon cancer were included in our study, together with ten subjects affected by histologically and serologically diagnosed hepatitis C virus infection. In the patients included in the colon cancer group, JC virus was searched for in the surgical specimen; in the control group, JC virus was searched for in the hepatic biopsy. The difference in the prevalence of JC virus in the hepatic biopsy between the two groups was assessed through the χ2 test.

RESULTS: Four out of 19 patients with colon cancer had a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for JC virus, and four had liver metastasis. Among the patients with liver metastasis, three out of four had a positive PCR test for JC virus in the surgical specimen and in the liver biopsy; the only patient with liver metastasis with a negative test for JC virus also presented a negative test for JC virus in the surgical specimen. In the control group of patients with hepatitis C infection, none of the ten patients presented JC virus infection in the hepatic biopsy. The difference between the two groups regarding JC virus infection was statistically significant (χ2 = 9.55, P = 0.002).

CONCLUSION: JC virus may play a broader role than previously thought, and may be mechanistically involved in the late stages of these tumors.

Keywords: John Cunningham virus, Colon cancer, Metastasis

Core tip: This is the first case-control study, to our knowledge, assessing, although with a small sample size, the potential metastatic spread of John Cunningham virus associated with colon cancer.