MBIO 2420 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Harald Zur Hausen, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Cervical Cancer
Document Summary
It is widely accepted that human papillomaviruses are the cause of nearly all cervical cancers: over 99. 7% of all cervical cancers contain hpv dna. Cervical cancer is the second most common female cancer worldwide with almost 500,000 new cases each year: breast cancer is the most common. Switzerland - highest country in developed world with hpv. Role of viruses in the development of human tumors. Connection between epstein-barr virus (human gamma herpes virus) infection and the development of burkitt"s lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma - the first two types of human cancer ever to be associated with viruses. In 1976 - published a hypothesis that hpv plays a causative role in cervical cancer. Isolated hpv 16 and 18 from tumor tissue: two most important high risk virus types in the development of cervical cancer. Hpv infection has also been implicated in other anogenital cancers and about 20% of oropharynx cancers.