Long-Term Follow-up after SV40 Inoculation

To the Editor: Mortimer et al. reported in the December 17 issue that their long-term follow-up study of people inadvertently inoculated with SV40 as neonates yielded no evidence of oncogenicity "despite continued concern" and findings that were reassuring and consistent with the prevailing view that "SV40 is not carcinogenic in human beings." * However, they noted that there have been reports that "SV-40-like antigens are present in tumors of patients" and that these antigens are detectable "in certain degenerative neurologic disorders, but no cases were reported" in their study group. However, the authors mentioned several caveats: "it is conceivable that one . . . No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.