Co-Incidence of Epstein–Barr Virus and High-Risk Human Papillomaviruses in Cervical Cancer of Syrian Women

Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) has been recently shown to be co-present with high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) in human cervical cancer; thus, these oncoviruses play an important role in the initiation and/or progression of this cancer. Accordingly, our group has recently viewed the presence and genotyping distribution of high-risk HPVs in cervical cancer in Syrian women; our data pointed out that HPVs are present in 42/44 samples (95%). Herein, we aim to explore the co-prevalence of EBV and high-risk HPVs in 44 cervical cancer tissues from Syrian women using polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, and tissue microarray analyses. We found that EBV and high-risk HPVs are co-present in 15/44 (34%) of the samples. However, none of the samples was exclusively EBV-positive. Additionally, we report that the co-expression of LMP1 and E6 genes of EBV and high-risk HPVs, respectively, is associated with poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinomas phenotype; this is accompanied by a strong and diffuse overexpression of Id-1 (93% positivity), which is an important regulator of cell invasion and metastasis. These data imply that EBV and HPVs are co-present in cervical cancer samples in the Middle East area including Syria and their co-presence is associated with a more aggressive cancer phenotype. Future investigations are needed to elucidate the exact role of EBV and HPVs cooperation in cervical carcinogenesis

Co-Incidence of Epstein-Barr Virus and High-Risk Human Papillomaviruses in Cervical Cancer of Syrian Women.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been recently shown to be co-present with high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) in human cervical cancer; thus, these oncoviruses play an important role in the initiation and/or progression of this cancer. Accordingly, our group has recently viewed the presence and genotyping distribution of high-risk HPVs in cervical cancer in Syrian women; our data pointed out that HPVs are present in 42/44 samples (95%). Herein, we aim to explore the co-prevalence of EBV and high-risk HPVs in 44 cervical cancer tissues from Syrian women using polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, and tissue microarray analyses. We found that EBV and high-risk HPVs are co-present in 15/44 (34%) of the samples. However, none of the samples was exclusively EBV-positive. Additionally, we report that the co-expression of LMP1 and E6 genes of EBV and high-risk HPVs, respectively, is associated with poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinomas phenotype; this is accompanied by a strong and diffuse overexpression of Id-1 (93% positivity), which is an important regulator of cell invasion and metastasis. These data imply that EBV and HPVs are co-present in cervical cancer samples in the Middle East area including Syria and their co-presence is associated with a more aggressive cancer phenotype. Future investigations are needed to elucidate the exact role of EBV and HPVs cooperation in cervical carcinogenesis.We would like to thank Mrs. A. Kassab for her critical reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by Qatar University grants # GCC-2017-002 QU/KU and QUCG-CMED-2018\2019-3

High-risk human papillomavirus infections in breast cancer in Syrian women and their association with Id-1 expression: a tissue microarray study

High-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) could be important risk factors for breast carcinogenesis and metastasis. Based on this hypothesis, we recently studied the effect of E6/E7 onco-proteins of high-risk HPV type 16 in two non-invasive human breast cancer cell lines, BT20 and MCF7; we reported that E6/E7 converts these cell lines to invasive cells. This is accompanied by an overexpression of Id-1, which is an important regulator of breast metastasis. In this investigation, we examined the presence of high-risk HPVs (16, 18, 31, 33 and 35) and the expression of their E6 onco-protein as well as their correlation with Id-1 gene expression, using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and tissue microarray (TMA) analysis, respectively, in a cohort of 113 Syrian breast cancer patients. We found that high-risk HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33 and 35 are present in 8.84, 9.73, 7.07, 55.75 and 37.16% of our samples, respectively, which represent invasive breast cancers. Overall, 69 (61.06%) of the 113 samples are HPV positive; among these specimens 24 tissues (34.78%) are coinfected with more than one HPV type. Furthermore, we report that the expression of the E6 onco-protein of these high-risk HPVs is correlated with Id-1 overexpression in the majority of invasive breast cancer tissue samples. Our data suggest that high-risk HPV infections are associated with human breast cancer progression in Syrian women

Poly(ADP-ribose)polymérase-1 (PARP-1) et méthylation de l'ADN, nouveaux partenaires des récepteurs hormonaux dans la carcinogenèse de l'endomètre

Les récepteurs des œstrogènes (ER) et de la progestérone (PR) sont les facteurs pronostics et prédictifs les plus documentés dans le cancer endometrioïde. Des études biochimiques ont pu démontrer que la poly(ADP-ribose) polymérase (PARP-1), molécule sensible aux cassures de l ADN est associée avec le domaine de liaison à l ADN de PR. Nous avons étudié la méthylation globale de l ADN et l expression de PARP-1 dans les lésions prénéoplasiques et néoplasiques de l endomètre et leurs corrélations avec PR : les expressions de PARP-1 et de PR sont corrélées, dans chaque stade, positivement (p<0.0001), à l exception des carcinomes non-endometrioides. Une corrélation positive est également observée entre la méthylation globale de l ADN et l expression de PR (p <0.0001). La synergie de ces deux phénomènes : méthylation globale de l ADN et expression de PARP-1 joue un rôle crucial dans la régulation de l action de la progestérone dans le développement du cancer endométrioïde de l endomètreLYON1-BU.Sciences (692662101) / SudocSudocFranceF

Specific gene patterns and molecular pathways related to human carcinogenesis in different populations among various geographic locations.

We read with great interest the article by Beg et al,1 which was recently published in Cancer. Colorectal cancers (CRCs) are the most commonly diagnosed malignancies, accounting for approximately 1.36 million new cases worldwide every year.2 Colorectal carcinogenesis is a complex, multistep process involving environmental and lifestyle factors in addition to sequential genetic changes and possibly viral components. Currently, the majority of deaths from CRC occur in developing countries including the Middle East, in which the incidence of CRC is rising. CRCs are characterized by a marked propensity toward invasion and spread to local lymph nodes. The overall 5‐year survival rate for patients diagnosed with CRC is approximately 60% and to our knowledge this rate has not significantly improved over the past 2 decades.3 Therefore, new preventive and therapeutic strategies to circumvent various stages of carcinogenesis in CRC are becoming a major investigative focus. To achieve this goal, a comprehensive understanding of the genetic interactions associated with early events in colorectal carcinogenesis is an essential first step.College of Medicine at Qatar University