title: View and review on viral oncology research.
abstract: To date, almost one and a half million cases of cancer are diagnosed every year in the US and nearly 560,000 Americans are expected to die of cancer in the current year, more than 1,500 people a day (data from the American Cancer Society at http://www.cancer.org/). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), roughly 20% of all cancers worldwide results from chronic infections; in particular, up to 15% of human cancers is characterized by a viral aetiology with higher incidence in Developing Countries. The link between viruses and cancer was one of the pivotal discoveries in cancer research during the past Century. Indeed, the infectious nature of specific tumors has important implications in terms of their prevention, diagnosis, and therapy. In the 21st Century, the research on viral oncology field continues to be vigorous, with new significant and original studies on viral oncogenesis and translational research from basic virology to treatment of cancer. This review will cover different viral oncology aspects, starting from the history of viral oncology and moving to the peculiar features of oncogenic RNA and DNA viruses, with a special focus on human pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology, Microbiology and Medical Biotechnologies, Division of Microbiology and Virology, University of Padova, Via A Gabelli 63, Padova 35121, Italy. giorgio.palu@unipd.it.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bergonzini
authors.forename: Cristiano
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Salata
authors.forename: Arianna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Calistri
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Parolin
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Palù