Includes bibliographical references.Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and viral infections such as HBV/HCV and HPV have been known to be responsible for up to 20% of cancers in low- and middle-income countries. Approximately 500,000 of these deaths are due to oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSSC) alone, one of the major cancers in Eastern and Southern Africa, Latin America and Asia. Previous studies have shown HPV DNA to be integrated in nearly 40% of oesophageal tumours whereas it was present in only 3% of normal healthy asymptomatic individuals, implicating it as a possible risk factor. The aim of this study was to compare the roles and effects of the E6 gene from the low risk HPV11 and high risk HPV18 on the cellular gene expression profile in order to identify genes required for the initiation of cellular transformation and also to identify genomic alterations associated with oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and viral infections such as HBV/HCV and HPV have been known to be responsible for up to 20% of cancers in low- and middle-income countries. Approximately 500,000 of these deaths are due to oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSSC) alone, one of the major cancers in Eastern and Southern Africa, Latin America and Asia. Previous studies have shown HPV DNA to be integrated in nearly 40% of oesophageal tumours whereas it was present in only 3% of normal healthy asymptomatic individuals, implicating it as a possible risk factor. The aim of this study was to compare the roles and effects of the E6 gene from the low risk HPV11 and high risk HPV18 on the cellular gene expression profile in order to identify genes required for the initiation of cellular transformation and also to identify genomic alterations associated with oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma
