Centrosome-Mediated Chromosomal Instability and Steroid Hormones as Co factors in Human Papillomavirus-Associated Cervical Carcinogenesis: Small Viruses Help to Answer Big Questions

摘要

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are small DNA tumor viruses that contain a double-stranded genome of only approximately 8,000 base pairs. HPVs infect epithelial tissue and cause benign lesions such as common warts but also malignant and premalignant lesions of the anogenital tract and the oropharynx. Over 200 HPV types have been identified so far. The mucosa-associated high-risk HPV types such as HPV-16 or HPV-18 are intimately associated with squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) of the uterine cervix, the second-most common cause of cancer-related deaths in women worldwide. High-risk HPVs are also involved in SCCs of the anus, penis, vulva, and a subset of oropharyngeal carcinomas (1). Despite the implementation of screening programs and the successful introduction of prophylactic vaccines (2), HPV-associated diseases remain a global health problem, mostly in medically underserved populations and patients with additional risk factors including immunosuppression or inherited cancer susceptibility syndromes.