Incidence of Microsporidia in Cancer Patients
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Incidence of Microsporidia in Cancer Patients Angela R. Lono & Suresh Kumar & Tan T. Chye
Published online: 21 May 2009 # Humana Press Inc. 2009
Abstract Introduction Microsporidia are considered opportunistic pathogens as evidenced by the significant detection in immunocompromised HIV/AIDS population. Cancer patients receiving chemotherapy are considered to be immunosuppressed. Materials and Methods Stool samples were collected from 311 cancer patients in the Klang Valley. Each sample underwent water–ether concentration and staining with modified trichrome stain. Results and Discussion Sixty-eight samples were positive by oil immersion examination. Polymerase chain reaction amplification with specific primers on those samples amplified Encephalitozoon intestinalis from two of the samples and Encephalitozoon hellem from one sample.
transmitted helminths (Trichuris trichura, Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm), Giardia lamblia, Blastocystis hominis, and Cryptosporidium spp. [14], there have been no studies on the prevalence of microsporidia in the cancer population, even though the immunosuppressive therapy they are subjected to may increase the risk of acquiring parasitic infections, often with a high degree of severity [4, 17, 18]. The following study was carried out over a period of 1 year where stool specimens were collected from three cancer clinics. Following screening by light microscopy, selected specimens underwent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification in order to determine if the species of microsporidia detected by microscopy could be identified.
Keywords microsporidia . cancer . E. intestinalis . E. hellem
Materials and Methods
Introduction Based on the report by the National Cancer Registry in 2002, there were over 26,000 cancer cases diagnosed in the Malaysian peninsula alone. Fifty-five percent of women and 45% of men are diagnosed with the disease, and statistics say that one in 5.5 Malaysians is expected to be diagnosed with cancer. While there have been reports of parasitic infections in cancer patients in Malaysia, namely, extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma with coexistent ascariasis [12], soilA. R. Lono : S. Kumar (*) : T. T. Chye University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected]
Three hundred and eleven stool specimens were obtained from three oncology clinics in the Klang Valley. One hundred and three of the specimens were from newly diagnosed patients and 208 were from those who had received treatment. Specimens were obtained from those who had been diagnosed with malignancies such as breast cancer (106 people), colorectal cancer (60 people), nasopharyngeal cancer (21 people), cervical cancer (15 people), and lung cancer (11 people). Seventy-four individuals did not specify the type of malignancy while 24 others were diagnosed with cancer of the brain, stomach, liver, mouth, larynx, esophagus, or prostate. There were 112 males and 199 females. Ages ranged from 20 to ≥60 years. The ages of 22 contributors were not specified, although all volunteers were above the age o
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