Infections Causing Human Cancer

Infections must be thought as one of the most important, if not the most important, risk factors for cancer development in humans. Approximately 15-20% of all cases of cancer around the world are caused by viruses. The
establishment of a causal relationship between the presence of specific infective agents and certain types of human cancer represents a key step in the development of novel therapeutic and preventive strategies.

In this book, Professor zur Hausen (Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine 2008) provides a thorough and comprehensive overview on carcinogenic infective agents -- viruses, bacteria, parasites and protozoons -- as well as their corresponding transforming capacities and mechanisms. The result is an invaluable and instructive reference for all oncologists, microbiologists and molecular biologists working in the area of infections and cancer.

The author was among the first scientists to reveal the cervical cancer-inducing mechanisms of human papilloma viruses and isolated HPV16 and HPV18, and, as early as 1976, published the hypothesis that wart viruses
play a role in the development of this type of cancer.

1 Historical Review.
1.1 The Early Period (1898–1911).

1.2 Frustration and Successes (1912–1950).

1.3 The Period from 1950 to 1965.

1.4 A First Human Tumorvirus?

1.5 The Difficult 1970s.

1.6 The Re-Emergence of a Concept.

References.

2 The Quest for Causality.

2.1 Infectious Agents as Direct Carcinogens.

2.2 Infectious Agents as Indirect Carcinogens.

2.2.1 Induction of Chromosomal Aberrations.

References.

3 Tumors Linked to Infections: Some General Aspects.

3.1 Tumor Types Linked to Infections.

3.2 Global Contributions of Infections to Human Cancers.

3.3 Host Interactions with Potentially Carcinogenic Infections: The CIF Concept.

References.

4 Herpesviruses and Oncogenesis.

References.

4.1 Alphaherpesvirinae.

4.2 Betaherpesvirinae.

4.3 Gammaherpesvirinae (Lymphocryptoviruses).

4.4 Rhadinoviruses.

5 Papillomavirus Infections: A Major Cause of Human Cancers.

5.1 Introduction.

5.2 The Concept of Cellular Interfering Cascades: Immunological, Intracellular and Paracrine Host Factors Influencing Viral Oncogene Expression or Function.

5.3 Cancers Linked to HPV Infections.

5.4 The Role of Cofactors.

5.5 Preventive Vaccination.

5.6 Therapeutic Vaccination.

5.7 Therapy.

References.

6 Hepadnaviruses.

6.1 Hepatitis B.

References.

7 Flaviviruses.

7.1 Hepatitis C Virus.

References.

8 Retrovirus Family.

8.1 Human T-Lymphotropic Retrovirus (HTLV-1).

8.2 Human T-Lymphotropic Retrovirus-2 (HTLV-2).

References.

8.3 Human Endogenous Retroviruses.

8.4 Gibbon Ape Leukemia Virus and Simian Sarcoma Virus.

References.

9 Other Virus Infections Possibly Involved in Human Cancers.

9.1 Polyomaviruses (JC, BK, and SV40).

References.

10 Helicobacter, Chronic Inflammation, and Cancer (James G. Fox, Timothy C. Wang, and Julie Parsonnet).

10.1 Discovery, Taxonomy, and Genomics.

10.2 Life Cycle, Specificity, and Virulence Determinants in Cancer Development.

10.3 Prevention of H. pylori-Induced Cancer.

10.4 Animal Models.

10.5 Virulence Determinants of Enterohepatic Helicobacter spp.

10.6 Enterohepatic Helicobacter spp.: Are they Co-Carcinogens?

References.

11 Parasites and Human Cancers.

11.1 Schistosoma Infections.

11.2 Infection with Liver Flukes (Opisthorchis viverrini, O. felineus, Clonorchis sinensis).

References.

12 Cancers with a Possible Infectious Etiology.

12.1 Leukemias and Lymphomas.

12.2 Human Breast Cancer.

12.3 Other Human Cancers Possibly Linked to Infectious Events.

References.