title: Early-life exposures to infectious agents and later cancer development.
abstract: There is a growing understanding that several infectious agents are acquired in early life and this is the reason why available vaccines target the new born, infants, and adolescents. Infectious agents are associated with cancer development and it is estimated that about 20% of the world's cancer burden is attributed to infectious agents. There is a growing evidence that certain infectious agents acquired in early life can give rise to cancer development, but estimates of the cancer burden from this early-life acquisition is unknown. In this article, we have selected five cancers (cervical, liver, Burkitt's lymphoma-leukemia, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma) and examine their links to infectious agents (HPV, HBV, HCV, EBV, and HTLV-1) acquired in early life. For these agents, the acquisition in early life is from mother-to-child transmission, perinatal contact (with genital tract secretions, amniotic fluids, blood, and breast milk), saliva, sexual intercourse, and blood transfusion. We also discuss prevention strategies, address future directions, and propose mechanisms of action after a long latency period from the time of acquisition of the infectious agent in early life to cancer development.
authors.affiliation: Methods and Technologies Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health (NIH), 9609 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, Maryland, 20850.
authors.forename: Vidya
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vedham
authors.affiliation: Methods and Technologies Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health (NIH), 9609 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, Maryland, 20850.
authors.forename: Mukesh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.affiliation: Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health (NIH), 9609 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, Maryland, 20850.
authors.forename: Somdat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mahabir
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control; D007239:Infections / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control
keywords: Cancer; early life exposure; infectious agents; perinatal transmission