Relationship Among Three Different Viruses and Primary Lung Cancer

The relationship among the Herpes simplex virus, Cytomegalovirus, and Rubella virus with non-small cell lung cancer is still unclear. Herein we analyze the expression of three different viruses in NSCLC and try to identify the relationship of the viruses involved in lung carcinogenesis. This study enrolled 61 patients who underwent surgery between January 2018 and June 2019 at the Department of the Thoracic Surgery at West China Hospital and 55 healthy volunteers during the same period for comparison purposes. The expression of three viruses IgM and IgG were analyzed by plasma ELISA. The experiments were approved by the West China Hospital Ethics committee (No. 2018 (33)) and all patients agreed to participate in the study and signed an informed consent form. In the healthy group, only one patient was Cytomegalovirus IgG positive and two patients were herpes simplex virus IgG positive in the test. With the Rubella virus IgG test, all the healthy volunteers were negative results. In the patient group, however, with the Cytomegalovirus IgG test, all the 61 patients showed the positive results. By testing the herpes simplex virus IgG, there were 60 patients showing the positive results. With the Rubella virus IgG test, exceeding half of total patients displayed the positive consequences. We also found that CMV-IgM and RV-IgM in 61 patients with NSCLC were negative expression in the serum; there were 3 positive cases with HSV-IgM. There were no positive expressions of CMV-IgM, RV-IgM, and HSV-IgM in serum of 55 healthy controls. A significant increase in the level of antibodies to capsid CMV, HSV, and RV antigen was established in patients with NSCLC as compared with healthy controls in our research. But more basic experimental researches need to be done.

Automated summary

The study analyzed the expression of Herpes simplex virus, Cytomegalovirus, and Rubella virus in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and found a significant increase in antibody levels of these viruses in NSCLC patients compared to healthy controls. More basic experimental research is needed to further investigate the relationship between these viruses and lung carcinogenesis.