Glioblastoma in a Patient with Professional Exposure to the Oncogenic Polyomavirus SV40

In previous investigations, the transforming sequences of simian virus 40 (SV40) had been found in human brain tumors, thereby suggesting a role for SV40 in human tumorigenesis. A recent study reported the case of a meningioma in a SV40-exposed scientist. The patient’s meningioma contained SV40 DNA sequences identical to those the patient had ever been exposed in the laboratory. The aim of this study was to investigate another case of SV40-exposed scientist with glioblastoma multiforme. After surgical resection of the larger neoplastic lesion, the patient’s tumor and blood samples were analyzed for SV40 sequences by PCR and filter hybridization. The differences among polymaviruses, such as SV40, BK and JC, and among SV40 strains were found in the T antigen (Tag) coding sequences and in the regulatory regions. Therefore, we analyzed the conserved SV40 regulatory region and Tag oncoprotein coding sequences in the patient’s specimen. The results did not reveal the SV40 DNA sequences detectable from this patient. Our data do not support in this clinical case the link between the SV40 exposure and the brain tumor.