title: Association of human papillomavirus infections with cutaneous tumors in immunosuppressed patients.
abstract: Besides immunosuppression and UV radiation, human papillomavirus (HPV) infection was also suggested to be involved in the development of non-melanoma skin cancer, the most common malignancy after transplantation. In this study we used a comprehensive PCR assay to analyze the prevalence of individual HPV types in different skin lesions from transplant and non-transplant patients. HPV DNA was detected more frequently in squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) of transplant recipients (75%) than the same lesion was in non-immunosuppressed patients (47%). Similar HPV prevalences were found in cutaneous warts (91% vs 94%), pre-malignant skin tumors (38% vs 36%), and normal skin specimens (17% vs 16%) of both patient populations. Overall, more than 40 different HPV types were identified. HPV types 5 and 8 were found more frequently in SCCs (26%) than in pre-cancerous (5%) or benign lesions (1%). All HPV 5- and HPV 8-positive SCCs were from immunosuppressed patients, indicating that infection with HPV 5 and HPV 8 may present an increased risk of SCC development in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Immunology, Clinical Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Lademannbogen 61, 22339, Hamburg, Germany. meyer@labor-arndt-partner.de
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: Rüdiger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arndt
authors.forename: Ingo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nindl
authors.forename: Claas
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ulrich
authors.forename: Enno
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Christophers
authors.forename: Eggert
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stockfleth
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000150:complications*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000821:virology*; D014181:Transplantation Immunology; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000150:complications*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents