HPV Strains May Impact Cervical Cancer Characteristics and Prognosis

Human papillomavirus (HPV) strain may impact cervical cancer characteristics and prognosis, according to a study published in Nature Genetics. 

In this study, researchers compared cervical cancer samples infected by different clades. They identified previously unknown differences in how HPV clades impact the human genome. HPV-16 and HPV-18, belonging to clades A9 and A7, respectively, are the most common causes of cervical cancer detected in at least 70 per cent of cases. Although both are considered high-risk, HPV-18 was associated with more clinically aggressive cancers.

An analysis of cervical cancers in Ugandan women uncovers significant genomic differences between tumours caused by different strains of HPV, indicating that HPV type may impact cervical cancer characteristics and prognosis. @BCCancer_GSC @NatureGenet https://t.co/JnoFjVVTLK

— BC Cancer (@BCCancer) August 10, 2020

“We are very grateful to have had the opportunity to engage in a wonderful collaboration, involving teams of researchers from different countries and continents, to use genome science to analyze these very precious samples from Ugandan patients,” says Dr. Marco Marra, Director of the GSC and head of UBC’s department of medical genetics in the faculty of medicine in a press release. “This opportunity speaks to the foresight of those who collaborated with the Uganda Cancer Institute in Kampala to perform sample collection, and the study funders that made it possible. We are especially grateful to the support of the patients, without whom this work could not have happened.”