#27~ XMRV Interim Guidelines from the NCI

Interim XMRV Guidelines from 
National Cancer Institute


Following the Oct. 8 publication by
Lombardi et al in Science linking CFS 
and xenotropic murine retrovirus (XMRV),
the CFIDS Association of America 
requested guidance from the National
Cancer Institute about XMRV for persons
diagnosed with CFS, their loved ones
and the general public. 

The following are interim guidelines
excerpted from a letter received from 
NCI director 
Dr. John E. Niederhuber.


Interim XMRV Guidelines from 
National Cancer Institute


We at the National Cancer Institute
(NCI) have great interest in these initial 
research findings. At present, we agree 
that a critical issue to be addressed is 
whether the exciting recent results 
obtained using samples from the Nevada
cohort can be reproduced in additional
cohorts of CFS-afflicted individuals.

The NCI is striving to develop tools so 
that the general prevalence of XMRV in 
the population can be ascertained, and
the association of  XMRV with disease
can be examined.


In the meantime, it is very important to 
reiterate what we do not know at this 
point, specifically:


1. We do not know whether XMRV is a 
causative agent for CFS, prostate cancer, 
or any other disease. Even if a causal 
association can be established, it may be
only one of many causes, and there may 
be other factors, genetic or 
environmental, that determine the 
outcome of infection. At the moment, 
there is no evidence of CFS
transmission between family members, 
even though XMRV appears to be an 
infectious agent. Thus, it is unclear 
whether XMRV alone underlies CFS.


2. We do not know how XMRV is 
transmitted from individual to individual. 
Recent suggestions of sexual or salivary 
transmission are not based on direct 
evidence, and conclusions regarding 
transmission are not credible at this 
point. Given the frequent isolation of 
virus from white blood cells, 
blood-borne transmission is a real 
possibility, and, while we are not in a 
position to establish firm guidelines, 
prudence would dictate that potentially
infected individuals refrain from
blood donation at this time.


3. We do not know how many apparently
healthy individuals are infected, and 
what the distribution of infection is 
within the U.S. and
in the worldwide population. 

The National Cancer Institute is involved in
coordinating a global effort to study 
these issues.


It is very important to keep in mind that
there is no evidence for a new increasing
or  spreading XMRV infection. 

Further, no credible evidence exists for 
direct transmission of either CFS 
or prostate cancer.


John E. Niederhuber, M.D.
Director, National Cancer Institute
National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and 
Human Services
October 23, 2009




Note: According to Dr. Wanda Jones 
of DHHS, these issues will be discussed 
by representatives from DHHS, NIH and 
other federal health agencies at the 
upcoming  federal CFS Advisory 
Committee meeting
on Oct. 29-30, in Wash DC.


THAT's the meeting BELOW  I have been
asking your to turn your computers ON
to watch or at least RUN and then watch
the arcived reply later..but we need the 
"head count" by the NIH.....Thx