Common virus can directly cause skin cancer: Study

ISTANBUL

A type of the human papillomavirus (HPV) commonly found on the skin can cause a form of skin cancer, according to a new research published on Wednesday.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that this type of HPV, beta-HPV, previously thought to only contribute to skin cancer, can actually directly cause it.

“The virus replicated in a somewhat uncontrolled manner and ended up integrating into the skin cells and once they did that, they became cancerous,” said Andrea Lisco, senior author of the study.

Researchers have reported a case of a 34-year-old woman whose squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer, repeatedly returned on her forehead despite multiple treatments.

Doctors first suspected sun damage and a weak immune system, but later found that the beta-HPV virus had inserted itself into her skin cells’ DNA and was producing viral proteins, taking control of the cells.

This is the first time beta-HPV has been shown to behave this way, challenging previous beliefs that the virus is unlikely to cause such effects in people.

About 90% of people carry a strain of beta-HPV, which usually lives on the skin without integrating into skin cell DNA.

Lisco stated that beta-HPV is common and easily transmitted through everyday contact, but a healthy immune system keeps it under control.

“This discovery could completely change how we think about the development, and consequently the treatment, of cSCC in people who have a health condition that compromises immune function,” Lisco added.