Prevalence of the integration status for human papillomavirus 16 in esophageal carcinoma samples

Upper gastrointestinal tract microbiota with oral origin in relation to oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Introduction: Poor oral hygiene is linked to high risks of many systemic diseases, including cancers. Oral dysbiosis is closely associated with poor oral hygiene, causing tooth loss, gingivitis, and periodontitis. We provide a summary of studies and discuss the risk factors for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) from a microbial perspective in this review.Methods: A literature search of studies published before December 31, 2022 from PubMed, Web of Science, and The Cochrane Library was performed. The search strategies included the following keywords: (1) oral care, oral health, oral hygiene, dental health, dental hygiene, tooth loss, teeth loss, tooth absence, missing teeth, edentulism, tooth brushing, mouthwash, and tooth cleaning; (2) esophageal, esophagus, oesophagus, and oesophageal; (3) cancer, carcinoma, tumor, and neoplasm.Discussion: Poor oral health, indicated by infrequent tooth brushing, chronic periodontitis, and tooth loss, has been associated with an increased risk of squamous dysplasia and ESCC. Oral microbial diversity and composition are profoundly dysregulated during oesophageal tumorigenesis. Similar to the oral microbiota, the oesophageal microbiota varies distinctly in multiple bacterial taxa in ESCC and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma, both of which have high co-occurrence rates in the "Oesophageal Cancer Belt". In addition, the potential roles of oncogenic viruses in ESCC have also been discussed. We also briefly explore the potential mechanisms underlying the tumor-promoting role of dysregulated microbiota for the development of therapeutic targeting strategies.Conclusion: Poor oral health is an established risk indicator of ESCC. The dysbiosis of microbiota in upper gastrointestinal tract that highly resembles the oral microbial ecosystem but with distinct features at individual sites contributes to the development and progression of ESCC.

HPV Prevalence and Genotype Distribution Among Women From Hengyang District of Hunan Province, China

Most cervical cancers were closely associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. Therefore, understanding the ecological diversity of HPV prevalence and genotype distribution among various populations in different geographical regions was essential for optimizing HPV vaccination and maximizing the vaccination effects. A total of 12,053 patient data from the three-level hospitals in Hengyang city were retrospectively analyzed. In this study, the HPV prevalence was 10.16% overall, and the multiple-type infection rate was 1.83%. The HR-HPV infection rate was 8.52%. The top six HPV genotypes were as follows in descending order: HPV16, HPV58, HPV52, HPV39, HPV51, and HPV53. The HPV prevalence in the group above 60 years old was the most, and their HR-HPV infection rate corresponded to the most too. The infection rates of HPV and HR-HPV among outpatients were both lower than those among the hospitalized-patients, respectively. Among the hospitalized-patients, the infection rates of HPV and HR-HPV among the 50–60 years group were the most in both. The HR-HPV ratio-in-positive among HPV-positive patients with the histopathologic examination was higher than that among those patients without. Among 52 HPV-positive patients with cervical squamous carcinoma, the ratio-in-positive of HPV16 was 61.54%. This study demonstrated that the HPV prevalence varied with age among women from Hengyang district of Hunan province in China and showed that HPV16, HPV58, HPV52, HPV39, HPV51, and HPV53 genotypes were more popularly distributed in this region, which could provide the experimental basis for Chinese public health measures on cervical cancer prevention.

Infection with Human Papillomavirus 18 Promotes Alkylating Agent-Induced Malignant Transformation in a Human Esophageal Cell Line

The relationship between human papillomavirus (HPV) and esophageal cancer (EC) has been controversial, which may be caused by the difference in geographic regions of sample origin. Thus, we conducted a case-control study to find that HPV increased the risk of esophageal cancer, and the HPV18 detection rate is the highest (24.2%) among patients with EC, suggesting that HPV18 could be the most risk subtype of HPV infected. We then identified high-risk HPV18 and N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitroso-guanidine (MNNG) to establish a model on the viral etiology cooperating with environmental carcinogens. Het-1A cells containing HPV18 were continuously exposed to MNNG or not; then the morphological phenotype and function assays were performed in 25th passage cells. MNNG promoted the proliferation and invasion abilities and inhibited apoptosis both in Het-1A-HPV18 and control group. However, the Het-1A-HPV18 had a stronger change in phenotypic features and formed more transformed foci in soft agar. Further, Western blot found p53 and p21 were down-regulated, and expression of c-Myc, MMP-2, and MMP-9 and Bcl-2/Bax ratio were up-regulated. Our results revealed that MNNG was easier to induce malignant transformation of Het-1A cells transfected with HPV18. It is good evidence for the close relationship between HPV and the etiology of EC, providing foundation for further study in molecular mechanism and specific intervention targets.

Oral HPV16 Prevalence in Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders and Oral Cavity Cancers

The role of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) in oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD) and oral cavity carcinoma (OC) is still under debate. We investigated HPV16 prevalence in unstimulated saliva, oral rinse samples, oral swabs and tumour biopsies collected from OPMD (n = 83) and OC (n = 106) patients. HPV16 genotype, viral load, physical status (episomal vs. integrated) and tumour p16INK4a expression were determined. Oral HPV16 prevalence was higher in OC than in OPMD, but this difference was not statistically significant (7.5% (8/106) versus 3.6% (3/83), odds ratio (OR): 2.18, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.56, 8.48, p = 0.26). There was a significant association (p < 0.05) between oral HPV16 infection and heavy tobacco consumption. Real-time PCR results indicated that no integration events occurred in either OPMD or OC cases based on the HPV16 E2/E6 ratio. HPV16 positive OPMD and OC patients had similar HPV16 E2 and E6 viral loads. The inter-rater agreement between tumour p16INK4a expression and oral HPV16 infection was considered as fair (k = 0.361) for OC. Our data suggest that the involvement of HPV16 in oral carcinogenesis is limited.

Three-Dimensional Organoids in Cancer Research: The Search for the Holy Grail of Preclinical Cancer Modeling

Most solid tumors become therapy resistant and will relapse, with no durable treatment option available. One major impediment to our understanding of cancer biology and finding innovative approaches to cancer treatment stems from the lack of better preclinical tumor models that address and explain tumor heterogeneity and person-to-person differences in therapeutic and toxic responses. Past cancer research has been driven by inadequate in vitro assays utilizing two-dimensional monolayers of cancer cells and animal models. Additionally, animal models do not truly mimic the original human tumor, are time consuming, and usually costly. New preclinical models are needed for innovation in cancer translational research. Hence, it is time to welcome the three-dimensional (3D) organoids: self-organizing cells grown in 3D culture systems mimicking the parent tissues from which the primary cells originate. The 3D organoids offer deeper insights into the crucial cellular processes in tissue and organ formation and pathological processes. Generation of near-perfect physiological microenvironments allow 3D organoids to couple with gene editing tools, such as the clustered regularly interspersed short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated 9 and the transcription activator-like effector nucleases to model human diseases, offering distinct advantages over current models. We explain in this expert review that through recapitulating patients' normal and tumor tissues, organoid technology can markedly advance personalized medicine and help reveal once hidden aspects of cancers. The use of defined tissue- or organ-specific matrices, among other factors, will likely allow organoid technology to realize its potential in innovating many fields of life sciences.