The Association of Human Cytomegalovirus Infection and Colorectal Cancer: A Clinical Analysis.

Background: Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) commonly infects humans and establishes lifelong infection. It causes disease and increased mortality rates in patients with immunosuppression. HCMV gene products are found to be present in multiple human malignancies and target cellular functions involved in tumor development; additionally, a tumor-cytoreductive role of CMV has also been observed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between CMV infection and the incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: The data were provided by a national database that is compliant with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Using International Classification of Disease (ICD)-10 and ICD-9 diagnostic codes, the data were filtered to evaluate patients infected with HCMV versus patients never infected with HCMV. Patient data from 2010 to 2019 were assessed. Access to the database was granted by Holy Cross Health, Fort Lauderdale for the purpose of academic research. Standard statistical methods were used. Results: Between January 2010 and December 2019, the query was analyzed and resulted in 14,235 patients after matching in the infected and control groups. The groups were matched by age range, sex, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) score, and treatment. The incidence of CRC was 1.159% (165 patients) in the HCMV group and 2.845% (405 patients) in the control group. The difference after matching was statistically significant by a P-value < 2.2 × 10-16 with an odds ratio of 0.37 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.32 - 0.42). Conclusions: The study shows a statistically significant correlation between CMV infection and a reduced incidence of CRC. Further evaluation is recommended to assess the potential of CMV in reducing CRC incidence.

Human Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Infection Associated With Decreased Risk of Bronchogenic Carcinoma: Understanding How a Previous CMV Infection Leads to an Enhanced Immune Response Against Malignancy.

INTRODUCTION:  ​Cytomegalovirus (CMV) causes a long-lasting, asymptomatic infection that reportedly has both advantageous and deleterious effects on tumor progression. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between CMV infection and the incidence of bronchogenic carcinoma. METHODS: The study was conducted using a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant national database to identify patients both with and without histories of CMV infection using International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10 and ICD-9) codes. Access to the database was granted by Holy Cross Health, Fort Lauderdale for the purpose of academic research with standard statistical methods used to analyze the data. 14,319 patients were included in both the control and CMV-exposed groups and matched by age range and Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) scores. RESULTS: The incidence of bronchogenic carcinoma was 1.69% (243/14,319 patients) in the CMV group and 6.08% (871/14,319 patients) in the control group. The difference was statistically significant by a p-value of less than 2.6x10-16 with an odds ratio of 0.26 (95% CI: 0.24-0.30). The two groups were also matched for treatment. Further evaluation of the CMV-specific treatment effects on outcomes was limited due to the insufficient number of treated patients in the control group. CONCLUSION: This study found a statistically significant correlation between a prior CMV infection and a reduced incidence of bronchogenic carcinoma. This study demonstrates the need for further investigation into how the tumor microenvironment and host immune system are altered by the presence of a latent CMV infection.