VIRUS-RELATED SEROLOGY AND IN-SITU HYBRIDIZATION FOR THE DETECTION OFVIRUS-DNA AMONG PATIENTS WITH TESTICULAR CANCER

Viral infections have been implicated in the pathogenesis of several m alignancies. A high incidence of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome a nd increased EBV-specific antibody titers were frequently observed in Hodgkin's disease. Some epidemiologic and clinical similarities have b een demonstrated between Hodgkin's disease and human testicular germ-c ell carcinoma. However, we investigated testicular biopsies from 16 pa tients with testicular cancer and 16 noncancer controls for the presen ce of EBV, cytomegalovirus (CMV), and herpes simplex virus (HSV) genom es with in situ hybridization and evaluated serum antibodies against E BV, CMV, and mumps among 52 patients with testicular carcinoma and 54 age-matched controls without cancer. There were no statistically signi ficant differences in increased virus titer between patients with test icular cancer and controls, and we detected no EBV or CMV DNA in tumor cells, although the HSV genome was found in 50% of the testicular-tum or patients and 37.5% of controls. The findings suggest that viral inf ections have no direct role in the etiology of testicular carcinoma. T he detection of HSV DNA in both tumor patients and controls might be a sign of latent infection, rather than a risk factor for testicular ca ncer.