| Abstract |
Non-melanoma skin carcinoma (NMSC) is the most frequent occuring malignancy worldwide in the Caucasian population. The ratio of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is 5:1 and occur mainly on sun-exposed sites of the body. In the multi-event nature of carcinogenesis, it seems that genetic factors interact with environmental ones as well as with viral genes in the development of human cancer. The viral participation in the development of skin cancer and the definition of their role is of particular interest due to the high frequency of this malignancy. Most studies examining the involvement of human papillomaviruses (HPV) in the development of cutaneous carcinomas have been done on lesions from immunosuppressed patients. In the present study, we examined the presence of HPV DNA in 108 specimens of bening and malignant lesions obtained from immunocompetent hosts. All the specimens were examined using type-specific and sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. 27% of the skin lesions were found positive for HPVs. Consequently, we attempted to identify specific HPV types and it was found that the most common types were HPV 8 (62%) and HPV 18 (48%). HPV 8 (62%) και HPV 18 (48%). Moreover, in several specimens we detected more than one HPV type. The same 108 specimens, were examined for the presence of herpesviruses DNA. Specifically, we examined them for the presence of herpes simplex virus (HSV) DNA, Epstein-Barr (EBV) DNA and cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA by applying again the polymerase chain reaction. All the specimens were negative for HSVs and EBVs. On the contrary, 39% of the skin lesions were found positive for CMVs. Moreover, in some of the lesions we detected both HPV and CMV DNA. The above mentioned suggest that HPVs as well as CMVs are present in precancerous and cancerous skin lesions and they participate in the carcinogenesis of non-melanoma skin carcinoma and that in combination with other factors, they play an important role in the development of this neoplasia. The multiple infections of several specimens with different HPV types suggest that the combination of an oncogenic HPV and a putative oncogenic HPV which is considered non-pathogenic for the general population, could result in the development of clinical disease through mechanisms of virus/virus interaction. The same pattern could apply as far as HPV and CMV are concerned.
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Ο ρόλος των ερπητοιών και των ιών του θηλώματος του ανθρώπου στον καρκίνο του δέρματος
