Sakuma, Toshie, Hué, Stéphane, Squillace, Karen A et al. · Retrovirology · 2011 · DOI
Researchers tested prostate tissue and blood samples from men with and without prostate cancer to see if a virus called XMRV was present. They found a few samples that tested positive, but further investigation showed these were likely contaminated with mouse DNA from the laboratory rather than real virus. The study found no strong evidence that XMRV is actually infecting people's prostate tissue or blood.
Early studies suggested XMRV might be associated with both prostate cancer and ME/CFS, creating concern about a potential infectious cause for these conditions. This rigorous negative study helps clarify that XMRV is unlikely to be a common pathogen in these diseases, reducing concern about a shared viral etiology while highlighting the importance of contamination controls in viral detection research.
This study does not prove that XMRV never exists in human disease or that it plays no role in ME/CFS—it only shows no convincing evidence in this particular Midwestern cohort. The study cannot exclude XMRV infection in other populations, different tissue types, or disease stages not represented in this sample. It does not address whether other related retroviruses might be involved in ME/CFS pathogenesis.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Sakuma, Toshie, Hué, Stéphane, Squillace, Karen A, Tonne, Jason M, Blackburn, Patrick R, Ohmine, Seiga, et al. (2011). No evidence of XMRV in prostate cancer cohorts in the Midwestern United States.. Retrovirology. https://doi.org/10.1186/1742-4690-8-23
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-sakuma-2011-evidence-xmrv,
author = {Sakuma, Toshie and Hué, Stéphane and Squillace, Karen A and Tonne, Jason M and Blackburn, Patrick R and Ohmine, Seiga and Thatava, Tayaramma and Towers, Greg J and Ikeda, Yasuhiro},
title = {No evidence of XMRV in prostate cancer cohorts in the Midwestern United States.},
journal = {Retrovirology},
year = {2011},
doi = {10.1186/1742-4690-8-23},
note = {PubMed: 21447170},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/sakuma-2011-evidence-xmrv},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/sakuma-2011-evidence-xmrv
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.