The oncogenicity of human cytomegalovirus

The oncogenic potential of HCMV is strongly suggested by its ability to stimulate the synthesis of various host-cell macromolecules; such as cellular DNA, RNA, and the enzymes associated with cell proliferation, and by its ability to transform human as well as other mammalian cells in vitro. All of the CMV-transformed human as well as other mammalian cells were found tumorigenic in athymic nude mice. Although CMV-DNA, RNA, and virus-specific antigens were found frequently in KS, prostatic adenocarcinoma, cervical, and colon cancers, its causal and etiologic roles with these cancers are still unclear. The possibility of the preferential replication of CMV in these neoplastic tissues and reactivation of latent virus in patients with malignancy still exists. Due to widespread CMV infections, it is also very difficult to study the causal association of CMV with human malignancies by sero- or molecular-epidemiologic approaches. Nevertheless, the connection between CMV and some human malignancies is impossible to dismiss. The obvious complication of CMV infection in several cancer patients definitely requires more attention.