Simian virus 40 (SV40) has been linked to human cancer, as has osteosarcoma (OS). Although significant discrepancies exist in the frequency, evidence that the virus plays a causative role in some malignancies is mounting. The large-T-antigen and significant SV40 oncoprotein, bind and inactivate the tumour suppressor genes p53 and pRb, which play a key role in osteosarcoma development. We analysed 277 OS samples from two different European countries (154 OS samples from Hungary and 123 from Germany). To ascertain the prevalence of SV40 in the general population, additional blood samples from healthy volunteers from the two countries (166 Hungarian and 149 German) were analysed. To reach an appropriate detection level, we investigated a real-time quantitative PCR-based assay for the detection and quantification of SV40 100 copies), whereas only 22% (29/123) of the German OS samples harbour small amounts of SV40 ( approximately 10 copies). SV40 was detected in 8 of 60 German tumour samples (14%) and 21 of 63 German blood samples (33%) from OS patients. In the peripheral blood of healthy volunteers we found only weak SV40 positivity (
