Rev Esp Quimioter 2021; 34(6):525-555

Overview of virus and cancer relationships. Position paper

EMILIO BOUZA, MIGUEL MARTÍN JIMÉNEZ, LAIA ALEMANY, JOAQUÍN ARRIBAS, RAFAEL BAÑARES, Mª BEGOÑA BARRAGÁN, JOSÉ MARÍA EIROS BOUZA, ENRIQUETA FELIP, OSCAR FERNÁNDEZ-CAPETILLO, DIEGO GRACIA, ROGELIO LÓPEZ-VÉLEZ, JUAN BAUTISTA MOLLAR, PATRICIA MUÑOZ, LUIS PAZ-ARES, AURELI TORNÉ, JAVIER TOVAR, EULALIA VALENCIA, ESTEBAN PALOMO

Published: 5 August 2021

http://www.doi.org/10.37201/req/058.2021

The role of certain viruses in the etiology of some tumors is today indisputable, but there is a lack, however, of annoverview of the relationship between viruses and cancer with amultidisciplinary approach. For this reason, the Health Sciences Foundation has convened a group of professionals from different areas of knowledge to discuss the relationship between viruses and cancer, and the present document is the result of these deliberations. Although viruses cause only 10-15% of cancers, advances in oncology research are largely due to the work done during the last century on tumor viruses. The clearest cancer-inducing viruses are: HPV, HBV, HCV, EBV and, depending on the geographical area, HHV-8, HTLV-1 and HIV. HPVs, for example, are considered to be the causative agents of cervical carcinomas and, more recently, of a proportion of other cancers. Among the Herpes viruses, the association with the development of neoplasms is well established for EBV and HHV-8. Viruses can also be therapeutic agents in certain neoplasms and, thus, some oncolytic viruses with selective tropism for tumor cells have been approved for clinical use in humans. It is estimated that the prophylaxis or treatment of viral infections could prevent at least 1.5 million cancer deaths per year.

Rev Esp Quimioter 2021; 34(6):525-555 [Full-text PDF]