Absence of bovine leukemia virus in the buffy coats of breast cancer cases from Alabama, USA.

Breast cancer is reported as one of the most common and deadly cancers among females. Recent findings have suggested that bovine leukemia virus (BLV), a highly prevalent bovine virus worldwide, might be linked to human breast cancer. However, the involvement of BLV as a risk factor for breast cancer remains controversial. In this study, BLV FRET-PCR was carried out on 238 blood-derived DNA samples from breast cancer patients from the Alabama Hereditary Cancer Cohort. In addition, randomly selected samples (n = 20) were evaluated by WGS for the presence of BLV genome. No BLV proviral DNA was detected in any of 238 samples assayed by FRET-qPCR in this study. Similarly, the WGS analysis did not detect the presence of the BLV genome in the DNA of the buffy coats from 20 randomly selected patients with breast cancer. This study did not support the findings of suggesting an association between BLV and breast cancer. Notably, nearly all the studies using in situ PCR and immunohistochemistry demonstrated positive associations while other studies using whole-genome sequencing and other methods failed to identify the BLV association with breast cancer. Further studies including all reported BLV detection techniques/methods on the same breast cancer sample sets would appear to be the most likely way of resolving the current contradictory evidence.

Establishment of the Alabama Hereditary Cancer Cohort - strategies for the inclusion of underrepresented populations in cancer genetics research.

BACKGROUND: Historically, groups that are most susceptible to health and healthcare disparities have been underrepresented in medical research. It is imperative to explore approaches that can facilitate the recruitment of underrepresented individuals into research studies. METHODS: Two approaches, hospital and community-based recruitment (CBR), were developed and implemented over 36 months to study the genetics of hereditary breast cancer and associated cancers in Alabama, a medically underserved state with double the national percentage of self-identifying African Americans, establishing the Alabama Hereditary Cancer Cohort. RESULTS: Overall, 242 individuals enrolled. This included 84 cancer probands through hospital recruitment, as well as 76 probands and 82 family members through CBR. Eighty-one percent of the study participants' counties of residence are completely medically underserved. Furthermore, African Americans represent 26% of the hospital probands compared to 49% and 70% of the probands and family members who, respectively, enrolled through CBR. CONCLUSION: Although both recruitment mechanisms were instrumental, the unique trust building, educational, and traveling components of CBR facilitated the enrollment of African Americans resulting in large families for genetic analyses. The ultimate goal is to gain insight from these rudimentary efforts in order to expand recruitment and accrue a unique resource for cancer genetics research.