Brief Report: The Virome of Bladder Tumors Arising in People Living With HIV.

Background: People living with HIV (PLWH) have elevated risk for developing virus-related cancers. Bladder cancer risk is not increased in PLWH but is elevated among immunosuppressed solid organ transplant recipients (SOTRs). BK polyomavirus and, to a lesser extent, other viruses have been detected in bladder cancers from SOTRs.

Human cytomegalovirus seropositivity is associated with decreased survival in glioblastoma patients.

Background: Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is an oncomodulatory human herpesvirus that has been detected in glioblastoma (GBM) and is associated with worse prognosis in patients with the disease. The effects of HCMV systemic infection on survival in GBM patients, however, are largely unknown. We aimed to determine the association between HCMV serostatus at diagnosis and survival via a retrospective cohort study of GBM patients.

Glioblastoma Mimicking Viral Encephalitis Responds to Acyclovir: A Case Series and Literature Review.

Viral encephalitis and glioblastoma are both relatively rare conditions with poor prognoses. While the clinical and radiographic presentations of these diseases are often distinctly different, viral encephalitis can sometimes masquerade as glioblastoma. Rarely, glioblastoma can also be misdiagnosed as viral encephalitis.

Fatal Balamuthia mandrillaris brain infection associated with improper nasal lavage.

We report the case of a 69-year-old female who presented with a chronic nasal skin rash, new onset focal seizure, and a cerebral ring-enhancing lesion after a year of improper nasal irrigation. Despite aggressive and novel anti-amoebic treatment, she died as a result of a Balamuthia mandrillaris brain infection.

Human cytomegalovirus-mediated immunomodulation: Effects on glioblastoma progression.

The presence of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), first established in 2002, has developed into an area of considerable interest and controversy. Numerous studies have found evidence of possible HCMV infection of GBM tumor cells as well as myriad onco- and immunomodulatory properties exhibited by HCMV antigens and transcripts, while recent reports have failed to detect HCMV particles in GBM and question the virus' role in tumor progression. This review highlights the known immunomodulatory properties of HCMV, independent of GBM infection status, that help drive the virus from peripheral blood into the vital tissues and subsequently dampen local immune response, assisting GBM tumors in evading immune surveillance and contributing to the disease's poor prognosis.

Precision knockdown of EGFR gene expression using radio frequency electromagnetic energy.

Electromagnetic fields (EMF) in the radio frequency energy (RFE) range can affect cells at the molecular level. Here we report a technology that can record the specific RFE signal of a given molecule, in this case the siRNA of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). We demonstrate that cells exposed to this EGFR siRNA RFE signal have a 30-70% reduction of EGFR mRNA expression and ~60% reduction in EGFR protein expression vs.