Cookie Settings

We use cookies to optimize our website. These include cookies that are necessary for the operation of the site, as well as those that are only used for anonymous statistic. You can decide for yourself which categories you want to allow. Further information can be found in our data privacy protection .

Essential

These cookies are necessary to run the core functionalities of this website and cannot be disabled.

Name Webedition CMS
Purpose This cookie is required by the CMS (Content Management System) Webedition for the system to function correctly. Typically, this cookie is deleted when the browser is closed.
Name econda
Purpose Session cookie emos_jcsid for the web analysis software econda. This runs in the “anonymized measurement” mode. There is no personal reference. As soon as the user leaves the site, tracking is ended and all data in the browser are automatically deleted.
Statistics

These cookies help us understand how visitors interact with our website by collecting and analyzing information anonymously. Depending on the tool, one or more cookies are set by the provider.

Name econda
Purpose Statistics
External media

Content from external media platforms is blocked by default. If cookies from external media are accepted, access to this content no longer requires manual consent.

Name YouTube
Purpose Show YouTube content
Name Twitter
Purpose activate Twitter Feeds

Some cutaneous HPV types may be involved in Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer development

No. 39 | 18/07/2011 | by (Koh)

In a joint paper published on July 14, 2011 in PloS Pathogens, the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) and the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (WHO/IARC) conclude that a viral infection with a certain type of human papillomavirus may cooperate with UV light exposure in the development of non-melanoma skin cancer(NMSC).

Electron-microscopical image of human papilloma viruses. Source: Prof. Hanswalter Zentgraf, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum
© dkfz.de

Skin cancer on the rise
Non-melanoma skin cancer is the most common form of malignancy in adult Caucasian populations, with more than a million cases recorded each year in the USA alone.

Lifestyle risk factors… but
The incidence of these cancers is continuously rising due mainly to the aging structure of Western populations, and as a result of growing prosperity, permitting more visits to countries with high sun exposure, which is a key risk factor for NMSC, as well as lifestyle habits associated with prolonged voluntary sun exposure for tanning purposes.

… Immune system disorders also etiological factor for NMSC
Impairment of the immune system also appears to play an important role in NMSC. Indeed, immunosuppressed organ transplant recipients (OTRs) have a 50–100-fold increased risk of developing NMSC compared to the general population. NMSCs occur 10–20 years earlier in immunosuppressed than in immunocompetent individuals, and the cumulative incidence of skin cancer in patients under immunosuppressive treatment for 10–25 years is approximately 30–40%. Thus, NMSCs cause a severe discomfort in OTR individuals, who often, due to the high number of skin lesions, cannot be treated with conventional surgery.

Strong suspicion of etiological role for infectious agent
The link with immune status strongly supports the role of an infectious agent in NMSC. Biological and epidemiological studies indicate that a sub-group of cutaneous human papillomaviruses (HPVs), refered to as beta HPV types, are associated with skin carcinogenesis. However, their direct role in cancer development and in particular whether they synergize with other risk factors, like UV irradiation, remain to be proven.

DKFZ-IARC collaboration
In a collaborative DKFZ-IARC program, we have developed a novel experimental animal model to further evaluate the role of beta HPVs in skin carcinogenesis. We have generated transgenic (Tg) mice expressing the viral oncoproteins E6 and E7 from cutaneous beta HPV38 in the basal layer of the epidermis. We found that chronic skin UV irradiation of these transgenic animals promoted the formation of skin lesions that resembled the squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)-precursor lesions in humans, actinic keratosis and subsequently SCC, closely mimicking the scenario observed in humans. In contrast, wild-type mice developed neither actinic keratosis nor SCC when exposed to the same dose of UV. Dr Christopher Wild, Director, IARC, indicated that "[Our] study shows the existence of a synergy between UV and cutaneous beta HPV in the induction of pre-malignant and malignant skin lesions in this animal model, supporting the further investigation of the role of these viruses in the development of skin cancer in people."

The way forward: possibilities for action
"The establishment of the involvement of beta cutaneous HPV types in NMSC development is of paramount importance", continued Dr Lutz Gissmann, Head of the Division of Genome Modifications and Carcinogenesis at DKFZ, "since it may offer the possibility, if causality is established, of novel prophylactic strategies for this disease based on the generation of specific vaccines, as shown for the HPV types associated with cervical cancer". This strategy may be highly beneficial for OTRs, who could be vaccinated before the initiation of the immune suppressive therapy. "However, further research, particularly in humans, is needed in the next decades to understand whether beta HPV prophylactic strategies may possibly have a positive impact on the prevention of NMSC", he concluded.

Daniele Viarisio, Karin Mueller-Decker, Ulrich Kloz, Birgit Aengeneyndt, Annette Kopp-Schneider, Hermann-Josef Gröne, Tarik Gheit, Christa Flechtenmacher, Lutz Gissmann and Massimo Tommasino: E6 and E7 from beta HPV38 cooperate with ultraviolet light in the development of actinic keratosis-like lesions and squamous cell carcinoma in mice. PLoS Pathogen 2011, http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1002125

With more than 3,000 employees, the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) is Germany’s largest biomedical research institute. DKFZ scientists identify cancer risk factors, investigate how cancer progresses and develop new cancer prevention strategies. They are also developing new methods to diagnose tumors more precisely and treat cancer patients more successfully. The DKFZ's Cancer Information Service (KID) provides patients, interested citizens and experts with individual answers to questions relating to cancer.

To transfer promising approaches from cancer research to the clinic and thus improve the prognosis of cancer patients, the DKFZ cooperates with excellent research institutions and university hospitals throughout Germany:

  • National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT, 6 sites)
  • German Cancer Consortium (DKTK, 8 sites)
  • Hopp Children's Cancer Center (KiTZ) Heidelberg
  • Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology (HI-TRON Mainz) - A Helmholtz Institute of the DKFZ
  • DKFZ-Hector Cancer Institute at the University Medical Center Mannheim
  • National Cancer Prevention Center (jointly with German Cancer Aid)
The DKFZ is 90 percent financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and 10 percent by the state of Baden-Württemberg. The DKFZ is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers.

RSS-Feed

Subscribe to our RSS-Feed.

to top
powered by webEdition CMS