Particles containing RNA-instructed DNA polymerase and virus-related RNA in human breast cancers.

Human breast cancers contain an RNA related to that of mouse mammary tumor virus. In 79% of the breast malignancies examined, this type of RNA is a 70S-component encapsulated with RNA-instructed DNA polymerase in a particle possessing the density characteristics of RNA tumor viruses. Further, the DNA synthesized by the human RNA enzyme complex hybridizes specifically with the RNA of mouse mammary tumor virus. Thus, four features diagnostic of agents similar to mouse mammary tumor virus are also exhibited by a particle found with high frequency in human breast cancers. The accumulating evidence for the involvement of RNA tumor viruses in at least some human neoplasias is becoming increasingly compelling.