Abstract
DNA sequences from BK virus were detected by measurements of reassociation kinetics in DNA preparations isolated from 5 of 12 human tumor tissues and 3 of 4 human tumor cell lines [lung carcinoma A-549, melanoma A-375, rhabdomyosarcoma A-204 and melanoma A-101D]; no DNA sequences from BK virus could be found using the same assay in DNA samples obtained from nontumor tissues removed from various patients. Whether or not this association is trivial, indicative of infection by BK virus, or correlative with the tumor state must await the testing of additional samples of normal and tumor tissues as well as a definition of the physical state of the genome of BK virus.