Association between human herpesvirus-6 and primary brain tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim: The present study aimed to find out the prevalence and any possible association between human herpesvirus (HHV-6) and primary brain tumors. Materials & methods: The systematic literature search was performed by finding related articles from major databases. Analysis was performed by comprehensive meta-analysis software. Results: A total of 13 (25 datasets) articles were included in the study, seven (15 datasets) of which were case/control and the rest (10 datasets) were cross-sectional studies. The pooled prevalence of HHV-6 among primary brain cancer patients was 29% (95% CI: 24-33%; I-2 = 97.89%). An association was found between HHV-6 and primary brain cancer (summary odds ratio: 3.77% [95% CI: 2.59-5.49%; I-2 = 19.0%]). Conclusion: Our analysis demonstrated that HHV-6 is associated with primary brain cancer. Reactivation of the virus could be triggered by the tumor, therefore, we cannot be certain that the virus appeared before the cancer development.