Contribution of DNA Tumour Viruses to the Cancer Burden: A Global Perspective
Catherine de Martel, Silvia Franceschi and Martyn Plummer
from: DNA Tumour Viruses: Virology, Pathogenesis and Vaccines (Edited by: Sally Roberts). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2018) Pages: 7-24.
Abstract
Infections with certain infectious agents (viruses, bacteria, and parasites) have been identified as strong risk factors for specific cancers. Among those, four DNA viruses have been classified as carcinogenic to humans by IARC over the years: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) in 1994, 13 types of Human papillomaviruses (HPV) in 1995, Epstein Barr virus (EBV) and Kaposi sarcoma herpes virus (KSHV) in 1997. Numerous studies in humans, animals, and mechanistic evidences support a strong causal relationship between exposure to these four viruses and human cancer in at least one site, sometimes in several sites. Together, DNA viruses have been estimated to be responsible for 1.2 million new cases of cancer worldwide in 2012, with two viruses baring 85% of this burden: human papillomavirus (640 000 cases worldwide), and hepatitis B virus (420 000 cases). Most of the cancers due to DNA viruses occurred in Eastern Asia, Southern America, and sub-Saharan Africa, and 60% occurred in women. Merkel cell virus, another DNA virus, was discovered more recently in a rare skin cancer in human, and was classified as probably -but not definitively- carcinogenic to human by IARC in 2014 despite strong mechanistic evidence, due to the lack of prospective studies in human yet available. In this chapter we give an overview of the burden of cancers attributable to DNA viruses in the world and in eight geographical regions. Then we summarize for each infectious agent and cancer site, the body of epidemiological evidence supporting our estimates of the attributable fractions read more ...
