The physical state of human papillomavirus 16 DNA in cervical carcinoma and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

Article Abstract:

Genital warts, also known as condyloma acuminata, are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Rare cases have been reported in which genital warts have developed into cancerous tumors. Research has revealed more than 60 types of HPV. While HPV 6 is most often associated with genital warts, it is not found in cervical cancer. Types 16 and 18 are commonly detected in cervical cancer; other types such as 31, 33, 35, and 52b have been detected less frequently. Since HPV types 16 and 18 have been shown to be involved in causing the continuous growth of cells in tissue culture, it is believed that these viruses may play a causative role in the development of cancer of the cervix. It has been assumed that the viral DNA becomes integrated into the host genome as a part of the disease process of both warts and cancer, but little evidence to support this theory has been obtained directly from specimens of human cervical cancer. For this reason, cervical biopsy specimens were examined for the presence of human papillomavirus DNA, and to determine if the DNA is integrated into the host genome or is present in the episomal state, that is, present as unintegrated viral genome. HPV DNA was found in 62 percent of the cervical cancers, in keeping with previous reports. Many researchers suspect that the incidence would approach 100 percent if detection methods were more sensitive. Also in keeping with previous reports, HPV 16 was the most commonly identified type, with HPV 18 also frequently observed. Ten cancer specimens positive for HPV 16 DNA were analyzed for the physical state of the genes. In four specimens, both integrated DNA and viral DNA were present. In one specimen, only viral DNA could be found. Although it is impossible to rule out cancer resulting from some other cause in this specimen, the findings suggest that integration of the viral DNA into the host genome may not be necessary for the cancerous transformation of cells by HPV. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Papillomaviruses, Papillomavirus

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The demonstration of human papillomavirus 16 genomes in the nuclei of genital cancers using two different methods of in situ hybridization

Article Abstract:

Research has indicated that over 80 percent of human genital cancers are associated with the human papilloma virus (HPV). Although several different types of HPV have been identified in these tissues, HPV 16 and HPV 18 are most frequently associated with malignancies. To further examine this relationship, frozen specimens of 12 cervical cancers, two vulval cancers, and two cancers of the vagina were obtained. Histopathological sections were cut and treated with detection reagents for HPV 6, HPV 11, and HPV 16. The detection reagents were of two different types; one set consisted of radioactively labelled viral DNA and the other set was DNA labelled with the compound biotin. In both cases the DNA can hybridize with viral DNA which might be present in the tumor specimen. In the case of the radioactive DNA, the DNA can be detected autoradiographically using a photographic emulsion on the slide. In the other case, enzymatically coupled streptavidin, which binds tightly to biotin, may be used to catalyze a color reaction to visualize the cells with the viral DNA. No reactions were observed using the reagents for HPV 6 or HPV 11. However, nine of the cancers gave a positive reaction for HPV 16 when the radioactively labelled DNA was used as the detection reagent. Only three of these were positive using the biotinylated DNA as a detection reagent. The results clearly add to the expanding evidence that the human papilloma virus is involved in genital cancer. Although further research using DNA of particular viral genes to examine the human cancers would be useful, it is clear from the results obtained here that the laborious and time-consuming method of using radiolabeled DNA must still be chosen over the biotinylated DNA method, due to the inferior sensitivity of the latter. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Cancer, Vulvar cancer, Vaginal cancer

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Ras oncogene expression and progression in intraepithelial neoplasia of the uterine cervix

Article Abstract:

Oncogenes are genes in a virus that have the ability to induce a cell to become malignant. They have been identified in human tumors. The relation between the expression of ras oncogenes, a major class of oncogenes, and the development of cancer of the cervix (the neck of the uterus) was assessed. Antibodies to ras oncogene product p21 are immune proteins that specifically bind to the ras oncogene and can be used to detect the presence of these genetic elements in tissue. Cancerous cervical tissue and lesions from human uterine cervix were tested for the presence of ras oncogenes using the anti-ras p21 antibody. An increased frequency of detection of ras oncogenes in these tissues was associated with an increased degree of malignancy. In addition, ras oncogenes were identified in 2 of 10 cases of lesions that regressed during a one-year follow-up, and 7 of 14 cases of lesions that worsened during a two to five-year follow-up period. These findings suggest that ras oncogene product p21 is associated with the early development of cancer in the squamous cells lining the uterine cervix. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Physiological aspects, Development and progression, Oncogenes, Ras genes

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