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Breast cancer incidence highest in the range of one species of house mouse, Mus domesticus
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  • Open Access
  • Published: 17 December 1999

Breast cancer incidence highest in the range of one species of house mouse, Mus domesticus

  • T H M Stewart1,
  • R D Sage2,
  • A F R Stewart3 &
  • …
  • D W Cameron1 

British Journal of Cancer volume 82, pages 446–451 (2000)Cite this article

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Abstract

Incidence of human breast cancer (HBC) varies geographically, but to date no environmental factor has explained this variation. Previously, we reported a 44% reduction in the incidence of breast cancer in women fully immunosuppressed following organ transplantation (Stewart et al (1995) Lancet 346: 796–798). In mice infected with the mouse mammary tumour virus (MMTV), immunosuppression also reduces the incidence of mammary tumours. DNA with 95% identity to MMTV is detected in 40% of human breast tumours (Wang et al (1995) Cancer Res 55: 5173–5179). These findings led us to ask whether the incidence of HBC could be correlated with the natural ranges of different species of wild mice. We found that the highest incidence of HBC worldwide occurs in lands where Mus domesticus is the resident native or introduced species of house mouse. Given the similar responses of humans and mice to immunosuppression, the near identity between human and mouse MTV DNA sequences, and the close association between HBC incidence and mouse ranges, we propose that humans acquire MMTV from mice. This zoonotic theory for a mouse-viral cause of HBC allows testable predictions and has potential importance in prevention. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaign

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  • 16 November 2011

    This paper was modified 12 months after initial publication to switch to Creative Commons licence terms, as noted at publication

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Ottawa at Ottawa Hospital, General Site, Ottawa, K1H 8M5, Ontario, Canada

    T H M Stewart & D W Cameron

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, 93106, CA, USA

    R D Sage

  3. Department of Medicine and Graduate Program in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh, 15213, PA, USA

    A F R Stewart

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  1. T H M Stewart
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Correspondence to T H M Stewart.

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From twelve months after its original publication, this work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

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Stewart, T., Sage, R., Stewart, A. et al. Breast cancer incidence highest in the range of one species of house mouse, Mus domesticus . Br J Cancer 82, 446–451 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1054/bjoc.1999.0941

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  • Received: 03 March 1999

  • Revised: 13 July 1999

  • Accepted: 03 August 1999

  • Published: 17 December 1999

  • Issue Date: 01 January 2000

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1054/bjoc.1999.0941

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Keywords

  • human breast cancer
  • mouse mammary tumour virus
  • zoonosis
  • geographic variation
  • incidence
  • Mus domesticus
  • MMTV

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