Viruses May Play Role in Lung Cancer Development: Presented at ELCC

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Title: Viruses May Play Role in Lung Cancer Development: Presented at ELCC
URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/2204B2.htm
Doctor's Guide
April 28, 2008

By Timothy A. O'Leary

GENEVA -- April 28, 2008 -- The Human papilloma virus (HPV) could be implicated in the development of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a study presented here at the 1st European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC).

The role of HPV in the pathogenesis of cervical cancer is well known. The virus also is known to be carcinogenic or cocarcinogenic in anogenital, oropharyngeal, and oesophageal cancer. Less is known about HPV's possible contribution to NSCLC.

Arash Rezazadeh, MD, Fellow in Medical Oncology and Haematology, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, and colleagues therefore conducted a study to find out if there was a relationship between HPV and NSCLC.

The researchers used DNA sequencing to test 23 samples of malignant lung tumours. Six of the samples tested positive for HPV. One was later shown to be a cervical cancer that had spread to the lungs.

The remaining 5 virus-positive samples were HPV type 16 (n = 2), HPV type 11 (n = 2), and HPV type 22 (n = 1).

"The fact that 5 out of 22 non-small-cell lung cancer samples were HPV positive supports the assumption that HPV contributes to the development of non-small-cell lung cancer," Dr. Rezazadeh said.

Of special interest to the researchers was the fact that the virus was present in the lung tumours themselves but not in the surrounding tissue, lending credence to the suspicion that a causal relationship exists between the virus and NSCLC.

"Our thinking is that this confirms that HPV is implicated," Dr. Rezazadeh said. "It answers that question that HPV isn't just an innocent bystander."

All the patients in the study were smokers.

"We think that HPV is a cocarcinogen," Dr. Rezazadeh said. "It means that if you smoke and are infected [with HPV], your risk [of developing NSCLC] is much higher."

"At this point, we don't have any evidence that nonsmokers have any increased risk of NSCLC," Dr. Rezazadeh said. However, he expressed that one area of possible future scientific inquiry could be to sample the lung cancers of nonsmokers to see if they have HPV.

"It could be an aetiology in nonsmokers, but what we think is it causes a higher risk in smokers to develop lung cancer," he said.

Dr. Rezazadeh added that Kentucky has the highest prevalence of NSCLC and cervical cancer in the United States.

The availability of a vaccine to prevent infection with HPV is being discussed widely in the United States but almost exclusively in relation to its utility as a way to prevent cervical cancer, which occurs only in women.

The possibility that HPV could be implicated in NSCLC raises the question of whether the vaccination should be used to prevent lung cancer and whether men should be vaccinated as well, Dr. Rezazadeh said.

"We don't know if the vaccine works to prevent lung cancer," he said. "It needs to be tested."

[Presentation title: Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). Abstract 124PD]

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