Human polyomaviruses JCPyV and MCPyV in urothelial cell carcinoma: a single institution experience

Faisal Klufah; Ghalib Mobaraki; Shuai Shi; Tom Marcelissen; Raed A Alharbi; Mousa Mobarki; Shaia Saleh R Almalki; Joep van Roermund; Axel Zur Hausen; Iryna Samarska

doi:10.3389/fonc.2023.1251244

Human polyomaviruses JCPyV and MCPyV in urothelial cell carcinoma: a single institution experience

Front Oncol. 2023 Dec 13:13:1251244. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1251244. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, GROW-School for Oncology and Reproduction, Maastricht University, Medical Centre+, Maastricht, Netherlands.
² Department of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Al-Baha University, Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Medical Laboratories Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Urology, Maastricht University, Medical Centre+, Maastricht, Netherlands.
⁵ Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Objective: Urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) is the most common type of urinary bladder. JCPyV and BKPyV have been detected in the urine and tissue of urothelial cell carcinomas (UCC) in immunocompetent patients. Here, we investigated the presence of several HPyVs in UCC samples using diverse molecular techniques to study the prevalence of HPyVs in UCC.

Methods: A large single-institution database of urine cytology specimens (UCS; n = 22.867 UCS) has previously been searched for decoy cells (n = 30), suggesting polyomavirus infection. The available urine sediments and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue samples of UCC patients were tested for the presence of JCPyV-LTAg expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) labeled with SV40-LTAg antibody (clone: PAb416) and subsequent PCR followed by sequencing. In addition, the presence of the oncogenic Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) and the presence of human polyomavirus 6 (HPyV6) and 7 (HPyV7) DNA were tested with DNA PCR or IHC.

Results: Of the 30 patients harboring decoy cells, 14 were diagnosed with UCC of the urinary bladder (14/30; 46.6%) before presenting with decoy cells in the urine. The SV40-LTAg IHC was positive in all 14 UCC urine sediments and negative in the FFPE tissues. JCPyV-DNA was identified in all five available UCS and in three FFPE samples of UCC (three of 14; 21.4%). Two UCC cases were positive for MCPyV-DNA (two of 14; 14.3%), and one of them showed protein expression by IHC (one of 14; 7.1%). All specimens were HPyV6 and HPyV7 negative.

Conclusion: Our findings show the presence of JCPyV in the urine and UCC of immunocompetent patients. Moreover, MCPyV was detected in two UCC cases. In total, five UCC cases showed the presence of either JCPyV or MCPyV. The evidence here supports the hypothesis that these viruses might sporadically be associated with UCC. Further studies are needed to confirm the relevance of JCPyV or MCPyV as a possible risk factor for UCC development.

Keywords: HPyV6; HPyV7; JCPyV; MCPyV; bladder cancer; decoy cells; polyomavirus; tumorigenesis.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.