BackgroundBreast cancer is currently the most common neoplasm diagnosed in women globally. There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that human papillomavirus (HPV) infection may play a key role in invasiveness of breast cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the presence of HPV in patients with breast cancer and its possible association with cancer progression.MethodsBreast specimens were collected from 72 patients with breast cancer and 31 healthy controls. The presence of HPV was investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and genotyping was performed for positive cases. We also evaluated the viral factors such as E6, E2, and E7 in HPV positive cases. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA (and Real-time PCR techniques were used to measure the expression level of anti-carcinogenic genes, such as p53, retinoblastoma (RB), breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility gene (BRCA1, BRCA2) and inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), transforming growth factor β (TGF-β), nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB), and different interleukins [ILs] (IL-1,IL6, and IL-17).ResultsThe HPV DNA was detected in 48.6% of breast cancer samples, whereas only 16.1% of controls were positive for HPV. We observed statistically significant differences between breast cancer patients and HPV presence (P = 0.003). HPV type 18 was the most prevalent virus genotype in patients. The expression of P53, RB, BRCA1, and BRCA2 were decreased in patients with HPV-positive breast cancer as compared to HPV-negative breast cancer and healthy controls. (All P-values were less than 0.05). The presence of the HPV was associated with increased inflammatory cytokines (IL-1, IL-6, IL-17, TGF-β, TNF-α, and NF-kB) and tumor progression.ConclusionThe present study demonstrated that HPV infection may implicate in the development of some types of breast cancer.

Background: Thyroid cancer is a common endocrine malignancy whose incidence has increased in recent years. Several internal and external risk factors are involved in the development of this cancer, such as infectious agents. Evidence supporting the role of viral infection as an etiology for the invasiveness of thyroid cancer is increasing. The aim of this study was to determine the presence of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and the association between viral gene products and thyroid tumor development.Methods: Fifty-seven thyroid cancer specimens were collected from the same number of patients as well as 18 samples from healthy controls. The presence of the EBV genome and the genotyping was examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).Also, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and real-time PCR were used to measure the expression levels of viral and cellular genes.Results: The EBV DNA was detected in 71.9% of the samples, and it was also found that the presence of the EBV was associated with increasing development of thyroid tumor. Conclusion:Our results demonstrated that EBV infection may play a role in the development of thyroid tumor. K E Y W O R D Sanoikis, Epstein-Barr virus, inflammation, thyroid cancer, tumor development

Parvovirus B19 infection is involved in several clinical manifestations such as erythema infectiosum, chronic arthritis, hydrops fetalis, and transient aplastic crisis in patients with sickle cell anemia and pure red cell aplasia in immunocompromised hosts. This virus can lead to self-limited anemia in healthy individuals; however, it can develop into chronic anemia in immunocompromised cases. →What this article adds: The present study evaluated the association between anemia and B19V in HIV patients. Also, the threat of B19V is limited in the HIV patients receiving ART, whereas persistent B19 viremia in the untreated patients may lead to anemia.