HPV Might Raise Risk of Form of Skin Cancer

FRIDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) — Infection with cutaneous
human papillomavirus (HPV) is linked to a type of skin cancer known as
squamous cell carcinoma, according to a new study.

Risk factors for squamous cell carcinoma include exposure to the sun’s
harmful ultraviolet radiation, older age, light skin and a suppressed
immune system. The international group of researchers found that having
antibodies to certain types of cutaneous HPV may be an additional risk
factor for this common form of skin cancer.

“Squamous cell carcinoma of the skin is the second most frequently
occurring cancer among Caucasians in the United States, and the numbers of
cases continue to rise,” study author Dana Rollison, vice president and
chief health information officer at Moffitt Cancer Center, in Tampa, Fla.,
said in a Moffitt news release.

Cutaneous (skin) HPV infection is different from the HPV infection
associated with cervical cancer, the release pointed out.

The study investigated the links between cutaneous HPV antibodies in
the blood and HPV infection in skin tumors.

The researchers tested 159 tissue samples with squamous cell carcinoma
for the presence of cutaneous HPV infection. They found the skin cancer
was significantly associated with antibodies to three different types of
cutaneous HPV.

Additional links were found between antibodies to two other types of
cutaneous HPV when compared to blood samples from people without skin
cancer, according to the researchers.

Some experts argue that infection with a certain form of cutaneous HPV
interferes with the repair of DNA in sun-damaged skin and could predispose
people to squamous cell cancer, the release noted.

“We hope that this study, aimed at identifying the role of cutaneous
HPV infection in [squamous cell carcinoma], will lead to improved
knowledge about who is at risk for [squamous cell carcinoma] and the
development of new means of prevention,” the researchers wrote.

The study appeared this month in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers
Prevention
.

More information

The U.S. National Institutes of Health provides more information on squamous cell carcinoma.

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