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Cleveland Clinic: XMRV in Gynecological Malignancies

Martlet

Senior Member
Messages
1,837
Location
Near St Louis, MO

CBS

Senior Member
Messages
1,522
XMRV and changes in cervical mucus?

I just searched pubMed and found absolutely nothing with XMRV AND gynecological, cervical, or vaginal.

Dr. Ila Singh, is a Univ. of Utah professor who co-authored the article - XMRV is present in malignant prostatic epithelium and is associated with prostate cancer, especially high-grade tumors. Schlaberg R, Choe DJ, Brown KR, Thaker HM, Singh IR. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Sep 22;106(38):16351-6. Epub 2009 Sep 8.

On her site (http://www.path.utah.edu/research/cbi/ila-singh-md-phd) she says "XMRV proteins are expressed primarily in malignant epithelial cells, suggesting that retroviral infection may be directly linked to tumorigenesis."

A while ago I came across a reference she made to transmissability and how she felt that XMRV may actually change the body's natural mucosal defenses, somewhat increasing the likelihood of sexual transmissability.
 

parvofighter

Senior Member
Messages
440
Location
Canada
Semen and transmissibility

I think men and women are both vulnerable to cancers of sex organs. Another factor re: sexual transmissibility, and vulnerability for prostate AND cervical cancer is the finding that:
  1. a fragment of prostatic acid phosphatase, the predominant protein in human semen, promotes the infectivity of XMRV in both prostatic stromal and epithelial cells by 44 90 fold
  2. Intact human semen has a similar effect; and
  3. XMRV infects both HelLa cells (derived from cervical carcinoma) and human foreskin fibroblasts
Abstract here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez. Enter the title: XMRV Is Present In Malignant Prostatic Epithelium And Is Associated With Prostate Cancer, Especially High-Grade Tumors
Discussed here: http://my.clevelandclinic.org/Documents/Urology/UKD_News_2009_Fall.pdf See page 14: XMRV is Found in Prostatic Secretions:
Evidence Suggests Sexual Transmission.

Hope this helps:)
 

Alice Band

PWME - ME by Ramsay
Messages
175
Location
UK
Wow, cervical cancer a problem with women in my family. Abnormal smears starting in the late teens or early twenties.
 

CBS

Senior Member
Messages
1,522
You can ask?

I called and asked. All the woman said was that they had completed the study. She did not elaborate.

Trish

You mean you can just call and ask? Nicely done. If they intend to publish it, it's probably on an editors desk.
 

CBS

Senior Member
Messages
1,522
Reference

It is in the literature if you look for it. I have not mentioned it because I did not want to freak the women here out. The relationship of human papillomilovirus and cervical cancer is well known. XMRV just turns it into a war machine. Now are you sure you want to be XMRV positive?

Levi,

Granted, my search was not deep but even simply using the term XMRV alone results in just 18 hits on PubMed which includes nearly all of the available reviewed research. Are you referring to a reviewed article or perhaps some other forum?

Shane
 

CBS

Senior Member
Messages
1,522
Thanks

Levi,

Thanks. It's going to have to be another day before I can drag my bruised brain through this but I do appreciate the chance to do so.

Shane
 
K

_Kim_

Guest
I think the following sentence is needed for context.

Levi quoted:

"In addition, XMRV efficiently infected and replicated in both the human ovarian carcinoma cell line Hey1b and the human cervical carcinoma cell line HeLa (data not shown)."

But the explanation that follows in the article puts these findings in context:

Perhaps these cell lines, from metastatic or aggressive cancers, have undergone genetic alterations or adaptations in culture that render them susceptible to XMRV;alternatively, it may
simply be that XMRV has a wider cell tropism in culture than in vivo, a not infrequent finding in other animal viruses.
 

fresh_eyes

happy to be here
Messages
900
Location
mountains of north carolina
OK, now I hate to be constantly asking you medical types all these questions, BUT :D. Can someone explain to me why they infect viruses into cancerous cell lines, and what that proves? Also what is cell tropism? Thank you, thank you, thank you - for being available to take my endless string of questions.
 

parvofighter

Senior Member
Messages
440
Location
Canada
Thanks Levi

It is in the literature if you look for it. I have not mentioned it because I did not want to freak the women here out. The relationship of human papillomilovirus and cervical cancer is well known. XMRV just turns it into a war machine. Now are you sure you want to be XMRV positive?

@Levi, I do appreciate your consideration not wanting to freak the women out. I guess for many of us ME/CFS'ers, any actionable news is good news. Even if it's XMRV, and an exhortation for men to be extra vigilant about malignant prostate cancer; and for women to be especially vigilant about increased potency of HPV with XMRV. (BTW, keep the references coming, particularly about XMRV turning HPV into a war machine) This is information however that responsible partners can and probably should share with each other, as soon as XMRV is further validated. I'm a big one for "knowledge is power", but do realize this can be indeed freaky. There is much new research coming out that most women don't need PAP smears every year, and in fact some jurisdictions are moving to every 3 years from what I recall. With a Dx of XMRV however, I would imagine that more frequent PAPS and prostate exams might be prudent. I wanna hear this because this is actionable bad news.:rolleyes:

@fresh eyes, Wikipedia actually has a nice definition of tropism for you @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropism

A tropism (from Greek, tropos, to turn) is a biological phenomenon, indicating growth or turning movement of a biological organism, usually a plant, in response to an environmental stimulus. In tropisms, this response is dependent on the direction of the stimulus (as opposed to nastic movements which are non-directional responses). Viruses and other pathogens also affect what is called "host tropism" or "cell tropism" in which case tropism refers to the way in which different viruses/pathogens have evolved to preferentially target specific host species, or specific cell types within those species. The word tropism comes from the Greek trope ("to turn" or "to change"). Tropisms are usually named for the stimulus involved (for example, a phototropism is a reaction to light) and may be either positive (towards the stimulus) or negative (away from the stimulus).

For example, parvovirus B19 has a tropism for "erythroid progenitor cells" (precursors to red blood cells). That's why it can be so dangerous for folks with sickle cell anemia.

Levi's point is also apt that, XMRV may have a wider cell tropism in culture than in vivo. The two are not necessarily equal. In other words, in lab experiments XMRV may target more types of cells than it can actually target in a human.
 

Alice Band

PWME - ME by Ramsay
Messages
175
Location
UK
Levi,

It's too late to frighten anyone. Let alone all my female relatives who have had cervical cancer, died of it or been treated for early and multiple pre-cancerous conditions. Including myself and my sister.

It could be an explanation or part of the picture.
 

CBS

Senior Member
Messages
1,522
XMRV may be promulgated in a manner similar to that of sexually transmitted diseases

Perhaps both men and women are at increased risk for urogenital infection with XMRV leading to cell abnormalities.

Forgive me if this is old news: http://www.lerner.ccf.org/news/notations/2009/9/1.php

It is written by Dr. Silverman and looks like it was put out in September.

Semen causes increases in the ability of XMRV to infect, in part because it contains SEVI
 

muffin

Senior Member
Messages
940
Most interested in this one. I am waiting for my D&C to get the biopsy done on the endometrial tissue (uterine lining) to see why I have a 10mm lining after 4 years post meno (early and sudden meno which my internist said was NOT unusual with his CFIDS female patients). I plan on having a hysterectomy regardless of the results. IF it is cancer then they have to do the old surgery with an 8 to 12 week recovery. IF I don't show cancer, then I'll have the laporoscopy hysterectomy and get it all removed and cleaned out NOW before the problems begin (which, given the odd stuff going on with me I must assume will start at some point- not smart to assume, but with this disease ...).

So I am curious what came out of this study. If anyone finds out more on the results of this study please post. Thanks.