Human papillomavirus and breast cancer

Several high risk Human papilloma viruses (HPVs) known to initiate cervical cancer, may also initiate breast cancer. HPV has a causal role in 90-95 per cent of cervical cancers. The idea that HPV has an involvement in breast cancer is controversial. Scientific reports from 15 countries around the world have correlated high risk HPVs with breast cancer but the association varies – from as low as four per cent to as high as 86 per cent. The technique for “fingerprinting” HPV in breast cancer cells – standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) – has also been criticized for its propensity for contamination. We  addressed these issues by using a technique (in situ PCR) that avoids cross-contamination and which provides evidence about whether HPV genetic material is present in the nuclei of human breast cancer specimens. We validated our findings by looking for “telltale” changes linked to HPV such as enlarged nucleus surrounded by a characteristic ‘halo’ (technically known as koilocytosis which is commonly present in early HPV associated cervical cancer). These new findings confirm the presence of high risk HPV in the nuclei of breast cancer epithelial cells. The identification of koilocytes is consistent with the HPVs having an oncogenic role in breast tissues.  

Bibliographic Reference

Benjamen Heng, Wendy K. Glenn, Yulan Ye, Bao Tran, Warick Delprado, Louise Lutze-Mann, Noel J. Whitaker, James S. Lawson.: "Human papilloma virus is associated with breast cancer", Br J Cancer. 2009 Sep 1. [Epub ahead of print]

James Lawson

School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

james.lawson@unsw.edu.au