Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37517027›Full record

ArticleBreast cancer research and treatment2023

Exploring the presence of bovine leukemia virus among breast cancer tumors in a rural state.

Stas Amato, Jon Ramsey, Thomas P Ahern, Joel Rovnak, John Barlow, Donald Weaver, Lud Eyasu, Rohit Singh, Jessica Cintolo-Gonzalez

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Breast cancer research and treatment, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Can Oncogenic Animal Viruses Pose a Threat to Humans?Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. The viral origins of breast cancer.Infectious agents and cancer · 2024
    Review
  9. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Stas AmatoDepartment of General Surgery, University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington, VT, USA.
Jon RamseyDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA.
Thomas P AhernDepartment of Surgery, Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont, 89 Beaumont Ave., B227, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA.
Joel RovnakDepartment of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
John BarlowDepartment of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA.
Donald WeaverDepartment of Pathology, University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington, VT, USA.
Lud EyasuDepartment of Surgery, Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont, 89 Beaumont Ave., B227, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA.
Rohit SinghDivision of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington, VT, USA.
Jessica Cintolo-GonzalezDepartment of General Surgery, University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington, VT, USA. jessica.cintolo-gonzalez@uvmhealth.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0572-5265
University of Vermont · USUniversity of Vermont Medical Center · USColorado State University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is a deltaretrovirus that causes malignant lymphoma and lymphosarcomas in cattle globally and has high prevalence among large scale U.S. dairy herds. Associations between presence of BLV DNA in human mammary tissue and human breast cancer incidence have been reported. We sought to estimate the prevalence of BLV DNA in breast cancer tissue samples in a rural state with an active dairy industry.

methodsWe purified genomic DNA from 56 fresh-frozen breast cancer tissue samples (51 tumor samples, 5 samples representing adjacent normal breast tissue) banked between 2016 and 2019. Using nested PCR assays, multiple BLV tax sequence primers and primers for the long terminal repeat (LTR) were used to detect BLV DNA in tissue samples and known positive control samples, including the permanently infected fetal lamb kidney cell line (FLK-BLV) and blood from BLV positive cattle.

resultsThe median age of patients from which samples were obtained at the time of treatment was 60 (40-93) and all were female. Ninety percent of patients had invasive ductal carcinoma. The majority were poorly differentiated (60%). On PCR assay, none of the tumor samples tested positive for BLV DNA, despite having consistent signals in positive controls.

conclusionWe did not find BLV DNA in fresh-frozen breast cancer tumors from patients presenting to a hospital in Vermont. Our findings suggest a low prevalence of BLV in our patient population and a need to reevaluate the association between BLV and human breast cancer.

Indexed as

Breast NeoplasmsLeukemia Virus, BovineMammary Neoplasms, AnimalAnimalsBreastCattleDNA, ViralFemaleHumansSheepDNA, ViralBovine leukemia virusBreast cancerOncogenesisOncogenic viruses

Identifiers

PMID37517027
OpenAlexW4385387137

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.