Special Issue "Infection and Cancer"

Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Lawrence S. Young
College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
Website: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/mds-hub/young-lawrence-hub.aspx
E-Mail: l.s.young@bham.ac.uk
Phone: +44 1214 146876
Interests: viral oncology; virus latency; viral immunology; gene therapy; herpesviruses; papillomaviruses; adenoviruses

Dear Colleagues,

It is estimated that infection contributes to the development of around 20% of human cancer – some 2 million cases per year. Understanding the role of infection in cancer continues to provide fundamental insights into the underlying mechanisms responsible for driving the oncogenic process as well as highlighting opportunities for therapeutic and prophylactic intervention. It is just over 100 years since Peyton Rous discovered an infectious agent capable of transmitting sarcoma to chickens. This observation spawned the field of tumour virology resulting in a range of key discoveries including the identification of oncogenes and of viruses associated with human cancer. In the last few years the significance of infection-related cancer has been recognized by the award of the Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine. In 2005 the Nobel prize was awarded to Barry Marshall and Robin Warren for their discovery of Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium associated with peptic ulcers, gastritis and gastric cancer. And in 2008 Harald zur Hausen was awarded the Nobel prize for his discovery of human papillomaviruses and their association with cervical cancer. Both these seminal observations have not only shed light on different oncogenic mechanisms but led to exciting cancer prevention approaches based on eradicating infection – antibiotics in the case of Helicobacter pylori and vaccination in the case of human papillomavirus. The special issue on ‘Infection and Cancer’ will focus on the current status of our understanding of the role of infectious agents in the etiology of human cancer and on the opportunities for therapeutic and prophylactic intervention. We thus invite submission of research and review manuscripts that cover any aspect of the epidemiology, molecular and cell biology, immunology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of infection-related cancer. I look forward to your contributions and to a valuable edition that will promote further developments in this exciting field.

Thank you for your collaboration.

Prof. Dr. Lawrence S. Young
Editor-in-Chief

Submission

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• cancer
• viruses
• infectious agents
• oncogenes
• tumour viruses
• tumour immunology
• epigenetics
• epidemiology
• vaccination
• therapeutics

Type of Paper: Review
Title: Review of Causal Relations Between Viruses and Cancer
Author: Dirk P. Dittmer
Affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Center for AIDS Research (CfAR), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7290, USA; E-Mail: dirk_dittmer@med.unc.edu (D.P.D.)
Abstract: 20% or more of human cancers are caused by infectious agents. Some like hepatitis B/C virus and liver cancer are well established. As next generation sequencing uncovered a flood of new viruses, new candidate virus - cancer associations are proposed with increasing frequency.  Yet, only long-term cohort studies can address causality with some measure of statistical significance. We will review past and recent examples and try to arrive at criteria that may be useful to triage novel virus - cancer associations.

Type of Paper: Review
Title: Epstein-Barr Virus Sequence Variation – Biology and Disease
Authors: Stelios Tzellos and Paul J Farrell
Affiliation: Section of Virology, Imperial College Faculty of Medicine, St Mary's Campus, Norfolk Place, London W2 1PG, UK; E-Mail: stelios.tzellos06@imperial.ac.uk (S.T.); p.farrell@imperial.ac.uk (P.J.F.)
Abstract: Herpesviruses such as Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) have very stable double stranded DNA genomes, although there are many points of sequence variation in EBV isolates from different parts of the world. A key question in EBV biology at present centres on whether sequence differences in the virus affect infection or EBV associated diseases. EBV isolates worldwide can be grouped into type 1 and type 2, a classification based on the EBNA2 gene sequence. Type 1 EBV is the most prevalent worldwide but type 2 is common in parts of Africa. Type 1 transforms human B cells into lymphoblastoid cell lines much more efficiently than type 2 EBV. Molecular mechanisms that may account for this difference in cell transformation are now becoming understood. Recent advances in sequencing technology are greatly increasing the amount of whole EBV genome data for EBV isolated from different parts of the world. Regional variation of EBV strains independent of the type 1/type 2 classification is already clear and systematic investigation of the relationship between viral strains, infection and disease will become possible. The new discovery that specific mutation of the EBV EBNA3B gene is linked to development of diffuse large B cell lymphoma has demonstrated the importance that mutations in the virus genome may have in infection and human disease.