![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
You are in: Health | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
![]() |
Thursday, 30 November, 2000, 23:58 GMT
Virus may be skin cancer trigger
![]() Some skin cancers may be linked to HPV
The virus which causes cervical cancer may also trigger some types of skin cancer, UK experts believe.
Researchers from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) say that Human Papillomaviruses (HPV) may be involved in the development of squamous cell carcinomas. This type of skin cancer is often linked to organ transplant patients, whose immune systems are compromised. It appears the virus may interact with ultraviolet light from the sun to interrupt the skin's normal defence against damage.
Dr Alan Storey from the ICRF's skin tumour laboratory believes that HPV acts on a protein known as "Bak" which protects skin from damaging changes. "When a skin cell becomes too damaged to carry on working properly, for instance due to UVB radiation, Bak protein will alert the cell and tell it to undergo a programmed death. "By killing itself the cell prevents any further damaging changes that in time can cause it to turn cancerous." The virus seems to destroy the Bak protein so it can not perform the protective function. Logical conclusion Professor Normal Maitland from York University, one of the country's leading HPV researchers, says the link with certain skin cancers is a "logical conclusion". "It seems the virus reacts with other carcinogens such as ultraviolet light - what we have to do now is find a way to diagnose the virus earlier than we do at present," he told BBC News Online. Professor Maitland pointed out that there is also a strong link between presence of HPV and oral and laryngeal cancers. The virus combined with environmental factors - such as smoking and sunlight - triggers cell abnormalities that become cancer. All cases of cervical cancer are now attributed to HPV and preliminary studies suggest that between one in four men and one in five women carry the virus. Dr Storey added: "Now we've had some success in identifying part of the complex way that this virus works, we hope that it will provide a suitable target for developing new therapies or treatments that can eliminate HPV from skin cells or limit their survival." |
![]() |
See also:
![]() Internet links:
![]() The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Health stories now:
![]() ![]() Links to more Health stories are at the foot of the page.
![]() |
![]() |
Links to more Health stories
|
![]() |
![]() |
^^ Back to top News Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | In Depth | AudioVideo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII | News Sources | Privacy |