Journal Article DKFZ-2026-01309

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Lung Cancer Patients Display Increased Expression of Bovine Meat and Milk Factor (BMMF) Proteins in Peritumor Alveolar Macrophages.

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2026
Wiley-Liss Bognor Regis

International journal of cancer nn, nn () [10.1002/ijc.70574]
 GO

Abstract: Besides smoking and exposure to specific environmental risk factors, also diet and in particular red meat consumption/exposure are described as risk factors contributing to lung cancer development. Incidence of non-smoking associated lung cancer is rising rapidly, globally. Global epidemiology supports an association between lung cancer incidence and consumption of bovine products. The search for meat-/milk-associated cancer risk factors led to the isolation of plasmid DNA termed Bovine Meat and Milk Factors (BMMFs). Due to detection of increased expression levels of a conserved BMMF-encoded protein (Rep) in tissues of colorectal cancer patients, BMMFs have been proposed as causal risk factors for cancer acting via inflammation-driven indirect carcinogenesis. Yet, their presence and possible contribution to lung cancer remained elusive. In this study, Rep expression was quantified in paired tumor/peritumor tissues from lung cancer patients (n = 35) as well as cancer-free individuals (n = 19, tissues adjacent to benign hamartoma) by immunohistochemistry, co-immunofluorescence microscopy, immunodetection/mass spectroscopy and genomics/transcriptomics screening. In all patients tested, Rep expression was immunohistochemically observed in CD68+ CD163+ alveolar lung macrophages, which were present at higher numbers in peritumor tissues of cancer patients compared to controls. Expression was inversely correlated with smoking intensity, supporting BMMFs' function as a new, smoking-independent biomarker and possible driver for lung cancer. BMMF+ macrophages revealed a cancer-promoting M2-like phenotype upon scRNA-seq, suggesting BMMF as target for both prevention and therapy. BMMFs might contribute to lung cancer by inducing pro-tumorigenic macrophage populations and serve as marker for (early) cancer detection and prevention.

Keyword(s): bovine meat and milk factors ; chronic inflammation ; dietary cancer risk factors ; indirect carcinogenesis ; lung cancer

Classification:

Note: #EA:D460#LA:D460# / #NCTZFB26# / epub

Contributing Institute(s):
  1. Arbeitsgruppe Episomal-Persistierende DNA in Krebs- und chron. Erkrankungen (D460)
  2. Angewandte Bioinformatik (B330)
  3. Virus-assoziierte Karzinogenese (D430)
  4. Monoklonale Antikörper (W170)
  5. Koordinierungsstelle NCT Heidelberg (HD02)
Research Program(s):
  1. 314 - Immunologie und Krebs (POF4-314) (POF4-314)

Appears in the scientific report 2026
Database coverage:
Medline ; BIOSIS Previews ; Biological Abstracts ; Clarivate Analytics Master Journal List ; Current Contents - Life Sciences ; DEAL Wiley ; Essential Science Indicators ; IF >= 5 ; JCR ; NationallizenzNationallizenz ; SCOPUS ; Science Citation Index Expanded ; Web of Science Core Collection
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 Record created 2026-06-02, last modified 2026-06-03



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