Evidence against a role for SV40 infection in human mesotheliomas and high risk of false-positive PCR results owing to presence of SV40 sequences in common laboratory plasmids

Background PCR-based evidence of infection by simian virus 40 (SV40) has been reported in varying proportions of pleural mesotheliomas and other tumours, but data are conflicting and reproducibility limited. During a study of SV40 in relation to homozygou