Background. Evidence of a possible role of viruses in cancer first emerged in the early 1900s and was confirmed after the discovery of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in Burkitt's lymphoma cells. Thereafter, several oncogenic viruses and retroviruses were characterised. It is estimated that 15% of human malignancies are of viral aetiology. Oncogenic viruses use different proteins to interfere dramatically with the cellular cell cycle and affect many signalling pathways and checkpoints, causing genomic instability, immunoresistance and immortality.
Conclusions. Simian virus 40 (SV40) is a small DNA virus from the genus polyomavirus, closely related to human polyomaviruses John Cunningham virus (JCV) and BK virus (BKV) and is highly oncogenic for rodents. The virus accidentally entered the human population through contaminated early batches of polio vaccine in the 1960s. After the discovery of SV40-like DNA sequences in mesothelioma samples in 1994, a new wave of research started, focusing on the role of SV40 in malignant pleural mesothelioma and human cancer in general. Although the virus is not considered a cancer causing agent for humans, it is thought to have a (not yet defined) role in the development of the malignancy. Further research to better understand the interactions between the virus and the mesothelial cell is still ongoing.
