Presence of simian virus 40 (SV40) is not frequent in Swedish malignant mesotheliomas.
Simian virus 40 (SV40), a contaminant of polio vaccines used in the United States and Europe between 1955 and 1963, has been detected with high frequency in human malignant mesotheliomas (MM). In Sweden, from 1958, due to production in Javanese macaque kidney cells and SV40 testing from 1961, only polio vaccine claimed to be free of SV40 has been used. Hence, we aimed to screen Swedish MM patients for the presence of SV40.


METHODS
Forty-one paraffin-embedded pleural MM samples, obtained from patients born from 1893-1958, were examined for amplifiable DNA. Testable samples were thereafter evaluated for the presence of SV40 DNA by two types of polymerase chain reactions (PCR) followed by sequencing.


RESULTS
SV40 could be confirmed by sequencing in only 3 of the 30 MM samples containing DNA that could be amplified by PCR.


CONCLUSIONS
The presence of SV40 is not frequent in Swedish MM patients.
Priftakis
Peter
P
Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institute, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. peter.priftakis@cck.ki.se
Bogdanovic
Gordana
G
Hjerpe
Anders
A
Dalianis
Tina
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000821:virology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000821:virology*; D023321:Poliovirus Vaccines / Q000009:adverse effects; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013539:Simian virus 40 / Q000235:genetics*; D013548:Sweden; D016707:Tissue Fixation
D004279:DNA, Viral; D023321:Poliovirus Vaccines