Cervical Cancer Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Cervical Cancer, including details on symptoms, vaccine, screening, treatment, human papilloma virus (hpv), information.

Human papillomavirus in cervical and head-and-neck cancer.

Psyrri A, DiMaio D

Department of Medicine, Yale Cancer Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520-8020, USA. diamando.psyrri@yale.edu

Cervical cancer is a major cause of cancer mortality in women worldwide and is initiated by infection with high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs). High-risk HPVs, especially HPV-16, are associated with other anogenital cancers and a subgroup of head-and-neck cancers. Indeed, HPV infection could account for the development of head-and-neck cancer in certain individuals that lack the classical risk factors for this disease (tobacco and alcohol abuse). This Review summarizes the main events of the HPV life cycle, the functions of the viral proteins, and the implications of HPV infection on their hosts, with an emphasis on carcinogenic mechanisms and disease outcomes in head-and-neck cancer. The demonstration that HPVs have a role in human carcinogenesis has allowed the development of preventive and therapeutic strategies aimed at reducing the incidence and mortality of HPV-associated cancers.

Published 21 December 2007 in Nat Clin Pract Oncol, 5(1): 24-31.
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