There is an unambiguous association of Streptococcus gallolyticus infection with colorectal cancer, although there is limited information about epidemiology or interaction between molecular and environmental factors. We performed an original quantitative analysis of S. gallolyticus in unselected colorectal cancer patients (n = 190) and their association with clinical, pathological tumor molecular profiles (microsatellite instability, hypermethylator phenotype and chromosomal instability pathways), and other biological factors in colorectal tumor and normal tissues (cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus infection). We developed a new quantitative method to assess bacterial load. Analytical validation was reached with a very high sensitivity and specificity. Our results showed a 3.2% prevalence of S. gallolyticus infection in our unselected cohort of colorectal cancer cases (6/190). The average S. gallolyticus copy number was 7,018 (range 44–34,585). No previous reports relating to S. gallolyticus infection have been published for unselected cohorts of patients. Finally, and despite a low prevalence of S. gallolyticus in this study, we were able to define a specific association with tumor tissue (p = 0.03) and with coinfection with Epstein-Barr virus (p = 0.042; OR: 9.49; 95% IC: 1.1–82.9). The prevalence data provided will be very useful in the design of future studies, and will make it possible to estimate the sample size needed to assess precise objectives. In conclusion, our results show a low prevalence of S. gallolyticus infection in unselected colorectal cancer patients and an association of positive S. gallolyticus infection with tumor tissue and Epstein-Barr virus coinfection. Further studies will be needed to definitively assess the prevalence of S. gallolyticus in colorectal cancer and the associated clinicopathological and molecular profiles.

Making a preoperative diagnosis of CNS-LYG appearing initially as a tumoral mass is difficult because of the lack of pathognomonic clinical symptoms or imaging signs. Surgical management with radical resection of the mass is almost always followed by the long-term local control of the lesion, although the disease may have a disseminated, systemic or malignant evolution.

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Gliomas are the most common brain tumors and include a variety of histologic types and grades of malignancy. They arise from glial cells and represent approximately 70% of the primary brain tumors. According to the criteria of the World Health Organization (WHO), the majority of gliomas can be classified into four grades of malignancy (I-IV). Virus infection, especially by DNA viruses and retroviruses, which may cause insertion of viral DNA sequences into the host genome, often triggers the host defense mechanisms. Particularly, the DNA methylation machinery can be activated to cause the methylation of foreign movable viral sequences and, therefore, silence viral gene expression. Several studies have shown the presence of Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in glioblastoma, suggesting that the virus may participate in tumor pathogenesis. But this relationship is controversial because many other studies did not detect HCMV in these tumors. This study aims to detect the presence of HCMV in several samples of human glioma (94 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples and 28 snap-frozen samples) by different sensitive techniques. We have been unable to detect HCMV DNA and proteins in glioma samples. Therefore, arguments used so far to conclude that HCMV is an oncomodulator virus in gliomas must be, in our view, seriously reconsidered.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12985-017-0885-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

This pilot study showed that viral infections were associated with metabolic staging differences, and differences in the evolution of metabolic and volumetric parameters and KRAS mutations. Further findings of specific features will help determine the best candidates for metabolic and volumetric staging and restaging. Further toxicity profile findings will help to determine the best candidates for specific supportive treatment during pelvic chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer.