Study Links Virus to Breast Cancer

A group of British doctors Friday reported preliminary evidence that a virus may play a role in the development of breast cancer, the leading cause of death for women between 40 and 54.

The study, which appears in the new issue of the British medical journal Lancet, involved 32 women with early breast cancer, 31 of whom showed particles in their white blood cells that appeared to be a type of virus called retrovirus.

Retroviruses, including the one that causes AIDS, increasingly are being implicated in diseases.

If doctors can substantiate the presence of the retrovirus in breast tumors and prove its role in promoting the disease, a vaccine might be developed. But an official cautioned that “it is too soon to comment” on the possibility of an immunization against breast cancer.