Can mycoplasma-mediated oncogenesis be responsible for formation of conventional renal cell carcinoma?
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the association between Mycoplasma sp. infection and conventional renal cell carcinoma (RCC).


METHODS
Normal kidney, renal intratubular neoplasia, and tumor tissue samples from 33 patients with RCC and 35 healthy controls were studied. Molecular DNA analysis was done after nested polymerase chain reaction performed in two steps with seven primers (four outer and three inner) that can recognize at least 15 different Mycoplasma sp.


RESULTS
Mycoplasma sp. DNA was detected in normal kidney, renal intratubular neoplasia, and tumor tissue samples at a ratio of 36%, 67%, and 82%, respectively. In 6 of the 33 patients with RCC, no Mycoplasma sp. was detected from any of the three tissue samples. Mycoplasma sp. DNA was detected in only 5 (14%) of the 35 samples from the control group.


CONCLUSIONS
The relationship between mycoplasma infection and conventional RCC has been investigated for the first time, and a significantly high existence of Mycoplasma sp. DNA was found in the tissues of patients with conventional RCC compared with that found in a healthy control group. This suggests that mycoplasma-mediated multistage carcinogenesis may play a role in the development of RCC.
Pehlivan
Mustafa
M
Department of Internal Medicine, Ataturk Education and Research Hospital, Ataturk, Turkey.
Pehlivan
Sacide
S
Onay
Huseyin
H
Koyuncuoglu
Meral
M
Kirkali
Ziya
Z
D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000382:microbiology*; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009174:Mycoplasma / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D009175:Mycoplasma Infections / Q000150:complications*; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
D004269:DNA, Bacterial