Abstract :
Prostate cancer (PCa) is the cancer that registers the highest incidence and mortality rate in men. Epidemiological studies indicate the existence of an association between high exposure to Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and an increased risk of prostate cancer. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a member of the sexually transmitted herpesviridae family. Studies carried out on prostate biopsies revealed the presence of the virus on pre-neoplastic and neoplastic tissues. Thus, and given that the virus is transmissible through all body fluids including saliva and breast milk, our study aims to detect CMV in the blood of subjects with prostate cancer looking for a possible association between the infection and the risk of prostate cancer. Blood samples were collected from a population of 45 people with prostate cancer, viral DNA testing was performed using conventional PCR. We were unable to detect CMV DNA in the blood samples studied. Based on these results, a first suggestion to be made is the non-implication of CMV in prostate cancer. But, considering that the results of previous studies are controversial between detection and and non-detection of the virus, it would be opportune to increase the sample size and to consider other parameters related to the therapy administrated for a possible correlation between the anti-cancer protocol that can cause both immunosuppression and the reactivation of CMV of its latency.
