Help this research find a therapy for children's cancer
Hello , I’m dott. Marco de Feo, an Italian dentist, this study and research start from observations at Saint Mary’s Hospital in Lacor, (Gulu) in Northern Uganda, where there is a significantly higher number of devastating cases of fibro-osseous odontogenic tumors (ossifying fibroma, ameloblastoma, fibrous dysplasia, odontogenic fibromyxoma, and mixed forms) compared to those found in healthcare facilities in the developed world, where they are considered extremely rare diseases. I have been studying these tumors in the field in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo for five years.
These tumors are considered benign fibro-osseous lesions with a high probability of becoming malignant if not treated. Most odontogenic tumors appear to originate de novo, without an apparent cause, and are highly recurrent. If untreated, they can evolve into carcinomas. Recurrences occur mainly in edentulous alveolar bones, also suggesting a possible bone origin, not just odontogenic. According to literature, fibro-osseous tumors are extremely rare in developed countries but show a remarkable incidence in developing countries, where data are scarce due to lack of case registration or absence of histological examinations.
The few available data are often conflicting and inconsistent and certainly underestimated. There is nothing in the literature, or the data are conflicting, about the incidence of these tumors in developing countries (Asia, Africa, and South America). The fibro-osseous odontogenic tumors in question mainly affect the faces of children and young adults, and the subsequent surgical intervention leaves facial deformities, condemning patients to isolation. Over the past five years, after long and careful observations and direct investigations into the different modes of contagion among the populations of Congo and Uganda, I have analyzed twenty-nine biological tumor samples taken from young patients in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, examining them through PCR at the University of Kinshasa (Institute National Research Biomedical) and identifying for the first time in the world the Lassa virus (Arenavirus), a zoonotic and hemorrhagic virus very similar to the Ebola virus, in all biological samples. Furthermore, the presence of the virus was also found in the apparently healthy tissues surrounding the tumor, suggesting that reactivation of the latent virus could be the cause of recurrences. All this was possible with the help of donations from well-meaning people and supported by important Italian Scientific Institutions.
A mutation of the virus and a spillover, i.e., the passage from animal to human, is hypothesized. I published the results in important scientific journals, opening the way to a better understanding of these tumors and the probability that the Lassa virus may be a new oncovirus.
Arenavirus as a potential etiological agent of odontogenic tumours in humans. Marco de Feo, Cristina De Leo, Umberto Romeo, Paola Muti, Giovanni Blandino, and Silvia Di Agostino de Feo M. et al. Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research (2020) 39:34
Detection of Lassa virus in a pilot cohort of odontogenic fibrous-bone tumors Marco de Feo, Frédéric Dilu Tamba, Anguy Makaka Mutondo, Gracia Kashitu Mujinga, Opiyo Stephen Odong, Chiara Castellani, Patrick I. Mpingabo, Steve Ahuka-Mundeke, Silvia Di Agostino de Feo M. et al. Anatomia 2024, 3, 57–67
In Ugandan villages and throughout Equatorial Africa, the population lives in huts in close contact with the ground, sleeping on the ground and on mats, drinking contaminated water from wells or, very often, collected from ponds where children and adults bathe. This water is also used for cooking and daily ablutions. The water can be easily contaminated by rat urine and feces. Additionally, one of the particularly prized foods consists of rats, which are often consumed raw, especially the entrails (heart and liver, which have high metabolite loads), or roughly cooked over charcoal. The cooking water is then drunk.
Nurses who have worked for a long time in Ugandan villages, near mines colonized by bats, report a suspected high frequency of these types of tumors. Furthermore, snakes are also included in the diet of Ugandans in rural areas and are considered delicacies rich in protein like rats. Fruit bitten by bats (mango) is often eaten by children. There is nothing in the scientific literature about populations that consume rats, snakes, and bats, but there are several journalistic reports.
There are two scientific articles that, considering my previous articles, support the hypothesis that the Lassa virus may be a new oncovirus:
Lassa fever and carcinogenesis: emerging as new areas of concern in clinical surgery: International Journal of Surgery: Global Health 6(6)
, November 2023.
Lassa fever and tumor: A new concern in clinical surgery: Formosan Journal of Surgery 56(3) 99, May-June 2023.
Therefore, this study aims to continue and expand the research in collaboration with the University of Kinshasa (R.D. Congo) by operating on 75 patients with tumors and 75 control patients, totaling 375 biological samples (there is no free national health service), purchasing reagents for RT-PCR tests, and performing genomic sequencing to identify the still unknown genotype of the virus, and then perfecting a medical therapy for all sick children worldwide.
I thank all those who will participate in funding this important scientific research, which has the ultimate goal of finding a therapy and partially defeating a virus considered emerging.
I remain available for clarification.
Dr. Marco de Feo
https://www.dire.it/01-12-2023/988252-in-uganda-tumori-orali-devastanti-uccidono-i-bambini-che-si-cibano-di-topi/
https://www.lastampa.it/salute/2023/12/01/news/tumori_orali_bambini_mangiano_topi_uganda-421556379/
https://www.mdpi.com/2813-0545/3/2/6
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7011367/
https://www.repubblica.it/salute/2023/12/01/news/tumori_orali_bambini_mangiano_topi_uganda-421556379/
https://fondazionecorti.it/sulle-tracce-un-virus/
https://www.comboni.org/contenuti/114978
https://www.dire.it/28-11-2023/986644-in-senato-la-presentazione-del-libro-ombre-dafrica-il-virus-di-lassa-e-il-mistero-dei-tumori/
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