Abstract
Retroviruses are relevant to oncologists in three distinct ways. First, human retroviruses as infectious pathogens lead to the development of cancer. Neoplasia may result from the direct infection and transformation of the precursor tumor cell by the retrovirus, as is evident in adult T-cell leukemia caused by the human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) (see Chapter 12). Neoplasia may also develop as an indirect consequence of retrovirus infection, as seen in acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) following infection by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In this case, the retroviral genome does not infect or persist in the tumor cells; rather immunodeficiency allows cells infected by oncogenic herpesviruses to proliferate as “opportunistic neoplasms” analogous to opportunistic infections. Secreted retroviral proteins, such as Tat, might also play a role in HIV oncogenesis.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Coffin JM, Hughes SH, Varmus HE. Retroviruses. New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1997, pp. 1–843.
Weiss RA, Teich NM, Varmus HE, Coffin J. RNA Tumor Viruses. New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1985, pp. 1396, 1233.
IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. Human immunodeficiency viruses and human T-cell lymphotropic viruses. Lyon, France, 1–18 June 1996. IARC Monogr Eval Carcinog Risks Hum 1996; 67: 1–424.
Tajima K, Takezaki T. Human T cell leukaemia virus Type I. In: Newton R, Beral V, Weiss RA (eds). Infections and Human Cancer. New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1999, pp. 191–211.
Gessain A, Mahieux R. Genetic diversity and molecular epidemiology of primate T cell lymphotropic viruses. In: Dalgleish AG, Weiss RA (eds). HIV and the New Viruses. London: Academic Press, 1999, pp. 281–327.
Sitas F, Carrara H, Beral V, et al. Antibodies against human herpesvirus 8 in black South African patients with cancer. N Engl J Med 1999; 340: 1863–1871.
Boshoff C, Weiss RA. Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. Adv Cancer Res 1998; 75: 57–86.
Ensoli B, Gendelman R, Markham P, et al. Synergy between basic fibroblast growth factor and HIV-1 Tat protein in induction of Kaposi’s sarcoma. Nature 1994; 371: 674–680.
Ariyoshi K, Schim van der Loeff M, Cook P, et al. Kaposi’s sarcoma in the Gambia, West Africa is less frequent in human immunodeficiency virus type 2 than in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection despite a high prevalence of human herpesvirus 8. J Hum Virol 1998; 1: 193–199.
Rosenblum L, McClure MO. Non-lentiviral primate retroviruses. In: Dalgleish AG, Weiss RA (eds). HIV and the New Viruses. London: Academic Press, 1999, pp. 251–279.
Heneine W, Switzer WM, Sandstrom P, et al. Identification of a human population infected with simian foamy viruses. Nat Med 1998; 4: 403–407.
Griffiths DJ, Cooke SP, Herve C, et al. Detection of human retrovirus 5 in patients with arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Arthritis Rheum 1999; 42: 448–454.
Lower R, Lower J, Kurth R. The viruses in all of us: characteristics and biological significance of human endogenous retrovirus sequences. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1996; 93: 5177–5184.
Weiss RA. Science, medicine, and the future-xenotransplantation. Br Med J 1998; 317: 931–937.
Venables PJ, Brookes SM, Griffiths D, Weiss RA, Boyd MT. Abundance of an endogenous retro-viral envelope protein in placental trophoblasts suggests a biological function. Virology 1995; 211: 589–592.
Conrad B, Weissmahr RN, Boni J, Arcari R, Schupbach J, Mach B. A human endogenous retro-viral superantigen as candidate autoimmune gene in type I diabetes. Cell 1997; 90: 303–313.
Perron H, Garson JA, Bedin F, et al. Molecular identification of a novel retrovirus repeatedly isolated from patients with multiple sclerosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1997; 94: 7583–7588.
Gao F, Bailes E, Robertson DL, et al. Origin of HIV-1 in the chimpanzee Pan troglodytes troglodytes. Nature 1999; 397: 436–441.
Donahue RE, Kessler SW, Bodine D, et al. Helper virus induced T cell lymphoma in nonhuman primates after retroviral mediated gene transfer. J Exp Med 1992; 176: 1125–1135.
Weiss RA. The oncologist’s debt to the chicken. Avian Pathol 1998; 27: S8–15.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Weiss, R.A. (2000). Retroviruses and Cancer. In: Goedert, J.J. (eds) Infectious Causes of Cancer. Infectious Disease. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-024-7_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-024-7_11
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-9621-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-024-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive