PERSISTENCE OF PARVOVIRUS B19 DNA IN TESTIS OF PATIENTS WITH TESTICULAR GERM-CELL TUMORS

Germ cell tumours (GCT) of the testis are the most common malignant tu mours occurring in young adults, In view of the young age of patients, the increasing incidence of GCT and the overexpression of wild-type p 53 observed in a majority of tumours, the possibility of the involveme nt of a virus in the development of this cancer was considered, Testic ular GCT were analysed for the presence of cytomegalovirus and Epstein -Barr virus (EBV), which are known to cause overexpression of wildtype p53 protein, and parvovirus B19, The testicular tissue of 39 patients with testicular GCT and 12 patients with healthy testicular tissues w as tested for presence of viral DNA by PCR, Neither cytomegalovirus no r EBV DNAs were detected in the 39 tumours analysed, but parvovirus B1 9 DNA sequences were demonstrated in the testicular tissue of 85% (33/ 39 cases) of patients with GCT, The sera of 16 of the 39 patients with GCT were tested for the presence of parvovirus B19 IgM and IgG, B19-s pecific IgG was detected in the sera of 11 patients (69%). Only one ca se was positive for parvovirus B19 IgM, which was also shown to have B 19 genome sequences in the serum by PCR, indicating that in a majority of cases an acute B19 infection can be excluded as being the source o f the B19 DNA sequences in the testis, B19 DNA could not be detected i n normal testicular tissue and thus parvovirus B19 could play a role, direct or indirect, in the development of testicular GCT or have tropi sm for the tumour cells.