Association of polyomavirus infection with lung cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The objective of this study was to investigate the pooled prevalence and possible association between polyomavirus infection and lung cancer.

A systematic publication search was conducted by identifying relevant cross-sectional and case-control studies from major online databases. Heterogeneity, OR, and corresponding 95 % CI were applied to all studies through meta-analysis and forest plot. Random effects models were used to calculate the overall pooled prevalence. Visual inspection of a funnel plot plotting the log-transformed OR and its associated standard error of the log (OR) was combined with the Begg and Egger test to examine the presence and influence of publication bias. Analyzes were performed using Stata software v.14.1.

23 articles (33 datasets) were included in the meta-analysis, of which 14 datasets were case/control and the rest were cross-sectional studies. The pooled polyomavirus infection rate in lung cancer patients was 0.06 % (0.02-0.11 %). In subgroup analysis, the pooled prevalence of JCV, MCPyV, KI, SV40, BKV, WU, MU, and STL was 21 %, 7 %, 6 %, 2 %, 0 %, 0 %, 0 %, and 0 % respectively. An association has been found between polyomavirus infection and lung cancer [summary OR 6.33 (95 % CI (1.76-22.77); I2=67.45 %)]. The subgroup analysis, based on the virus type, showed a strong association between MCPyV and lung cancer [summary OR 13.61 (95 % CI 2.41-76.59; I2=40.0 %)]. despite the high prevalence of JCV DNA in lung cancer tissue, analysis of case-control studies showed that JCV is not associated with lung cancer and does not increase the risk of lung cancer.

This study showed a significant association between polyomaviruses infection with lung cancer. The results also revealed a pooled prevalence of 6 % for polyomaviruses in lung tumor patients. Altogether, the findings of the present work suggest that Merkel cell polyomavirus infection is a potential risk factor for lung cancer.