Study of U.S. Army Vets Inoculated with SV40-contaminated Vaccine Fails to Yield Evidence of Link to Mesothelioma, Other Cancers

A study of U.S. Army Veterans likely exposed to simian virus 40 (SV40) in vaccines administered more than four decades ago has revealed no evidence that the monkey virus is associated with mesothelioma.

According to a study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology, Army servicemen who received the SV40-contaminated adenovirus vaccine during basic training in the late 1950s and early 1960s showed no appreciable increase in cancers believed to be associated with SV40 exposure.

"This retrospective case-control study is the first investigation of cancer risk associated with receipt of the Army's early adenovirus vaccine," the …