Researchers from the University of California (Berkeley campus) have indicated that the risk of developing breast cancer is 3.1 times higher if BLV is present in a woman.

The study was conducted by Gertrude Buehring, Professor of Virology in the Division of University of California, and was published in the Journal PLoS ONE. The study has pointed out that on the possibility of contact with the cattle-borne BLV could be a factor that causes breast cancer. The study holds an importance owing to the fact that almost 80 percent death in women in United States.

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The Daily Californian reported that researchers utilized almost 239 samples from donors supplied by the Cooperative Human Tissue Network. The research identified that 59 percent of the samples had been exposed to the virus, while only 30 percent of the non-cancerous samples showed presence of BLV antibodies.

"We calculate that 37 percent of all breast cancers are attributable to this cause. That's a fantastically large attributable risk," shares Gladys Block, Professor Emertia of Nutritional Epidemiology and co-author of the study.

According to earlier researches, BLV was believed not to infect humans. However, with the advent of technology, DNA sequencing and other sensitive techniques to detect viruses were developed and Buehring employed these techniques to publish a study in 2003 that established possible infection of humans by BIV.

On an interview to Pioneer News, Professor Buehring shares "The tests we have now are more sensitive, but it was still hard to overturn the established dogma that BLV was not transmissible to humans. As a result, there has been little incentive for the cattle industry to set up procedures to contain the spread of the virus."

Buehring along with her team published a study that confirmed the presence of BLV in the mammary epithelial cells of human breast tissue. However, the team's latest study does not confirm that BLV causes cancer, the study found strong possibility of correlation between the two.

TagsBovine Virus, bovine leukemia virus or blv, Breast Cancer Cause, Breast Cancer Prevention, BLV Linked To Breast Cancer