Human Papillomaviruses and Cancer

Abstract

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection has been associated with specific human cancers, including cancer of the cervix and other genital cancers and skin cancers in patients with epidermodysplasia verruciformis. HPV does not thus far appear to be commonly associated with nongenital Bowen’s disease or nongenital skin cancers, although it is found routinely in genital forms of these conditions. Other factors in addition to HPV infection appear to contribute to tumor associated with HPV, which suggests that cellular changes in addition to HPV infection may be required for frank malignancy. Only a subset of the more than 60 HPV types have been found regularly in malignancies. Among the HPVs that infect the genital tract, some, such as HPV6 and HPV11, are only rarely detected in association with genital cancers, while others, including HPV16 and HPV18, are regularly found in malignancies. The former HPV types are therefore designated “low-risk” and the latter “high-risk.”

Since it was impossible for the authors to meet the deadline for manuscript submission, they agreed to the abstract submitted being published. The Editors.