Human papillomavirus as a driver of head and neck cancers

Abstract

The human papillomavirus (HPV) family includes more than 170 different types of virus that infect stratified epithelium. High-risk HPV is well established as the primary cause of cervical cancer, but in recent years, a clear role for this virus in other malignancies is also emerging. Indeed, HPV plays a pathogenic role in a subset of head and neck cancers-mostly cancers of the oropharynx-with distinct epidemiological, clinical and molecular characteristics compared with head and neck cancers not caused by HPV. This review summarises our current understanding of HPV in these cancers, specifically detailing HPV infection in head and neck cancers within different racial/ethnic subpopulations, and the differences in various aspects of these diseases between women and men. Finally, we provide an outlook for this disease, in terms of clinical management, and consider the issues of 'diagnostic biomarkers' and targeted therapies.

Human Papilloma Virus Increases ΔNp63α Expression in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

“…HNC affect ∼600,000 patients per year worldwide and is the sixth leading cancer by incidence. Smoking is mainly implicated in the rise of HNC in developing countries, while the human papillomavirus (HPV) is an established important risk factor in the increase of oropharyngeal cancers in developed countries (Ang et al, 2010;Sabatini and Chiocca, 2019;Sandulache et al, 2019).…”

The Acute Phase Reaction and Its Prognostic Impact in Patients with Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Single Biomarkers Including C-Reactive Protein Versus Biomarker Profiles

“…We were not able to differentiate between the HPV-negative and -positive patients based on the peripheral blood cytokine/receptor or CRP levels at diagnosis. This is to some extent surprising, in that the two cancer diseases have fundamentally different causes, i.e., HPV as a viral factor and patients with HPV-negative tumors in principle being due to DNA mutations most often caused by smoking in combination with alcohol consumption [ 80 ]. Furthermore, the overall acute phase cytokine profile was not associated with cancer-specific HNSCC survival.…”

Role of Angiopoietins in Development of Cancer and Neoplasia Associated with Viral Infection

“…A number of viruses have been identified as oncogenic viruses that can directly transform normal cells into malignant tumor cells. Examples of such oncogenic viruses include: (1) Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which is associated with a subset of Hodgkin's lymphoma [112][113][114][115][116][117], a subset of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) [118], endemic Burkitt lymphoma [119], as well as nasopharyngeal carcinoma [119,120] and gastric adenocarcinoma [121]; (2) Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), which is associated with Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) [122], primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) [123,124], and multicentric Castleman disease (MCD) [125]; (3) High-risk isotypes of human papillomaviruses (HPV), which can cause cervical, anal, oral, vulvar, vaginal, and penile cancers [126][127][128][129][130]; (4) Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV), which is linked to Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) [131]; and (5) human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) [132][133][134][135][136]. Other viruses such as hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) can indirectly cause liver cancer through chronic inflammation [137].…”

“…(3) High-risk isotypes of human papillomaviruses (HPV), which can cause cervical, anal, oral, vulvar, vaginal, and penile cancers [126][127][128][129][130]; (4) Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV), which is linked to Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) [131]; and (5) human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) [132][133][134][135][136]. Other viruses such as hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) can indirectly cause liver cancer through chronic inflammation [137].…”