title: In North America, some ovarian cancers express the oncogenes of preventable human papillomavirus HPV-18.
abstract: Some researchers in other regions have recommended human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination to reduce risk of ovarian cancer, but not in North America, where evidence has previously suggested no role for HPV in ovarian cancer. Here we use a large sample of ovarian cancer transcriptomes (RNA-Seq) from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database to address whether HPV is involved with ovarian cancer in North America. We estimate that a known high-risk type of HPV (type 18) is present and active in 1.5% of cases of ovarian epithelial cancers in the US and Canada. Our detection methods were verified by negative and positive controls, and our sequence matches indicated high validity, leading to strong confidence in our conclusions. Our results indicate that previous reports of zero prevalence of HPV in North American cases of ovarian cancer should not be considered conclusive. This is important because currently used vaccines protect against the HPV-18 that is active in ovarian tumors and, therefore, may reduce risk in North America of cancers of the ovaries as well as of the cervix and several other organ sites.
authors.affiliation: Biometry Research Group, Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, 9609 Medical Center Dr., Rockville, MD. 20850.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Roos
authors.affiliation: Indiana University, Department of Biology, 1001 E 3rd St. Bloomington, IN, 47405.
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Orlando
authors.affiliation: Biometry Research Group, Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, 9609 Medical Center Dr., Rockville, MD. 20850.
authors.forename: Richard M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Fagerstrom
authors.affiliation: 1] Biometry Research Group, Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, 9609 Medical Center Dr., Rockville, MD. 20850 [2] Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501.
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Pepper
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D005814:Genes, Viral; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D052161:Human papillomavirus 18 / Q000235:genetics*; D052163:Human papillomavirus 6 / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D009857:Oncogenes / Q000235:genetics*; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000150:complications*; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000150:complications*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral