HPV may hide in the throat

Human papilloma virus (HPV), that causes cervical cancer and some forms of head and neck cancer may hide in small pockets on the surface of tonsils in people not known to carry the virus. The finding, reported by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers in the Journal of the American Medical Association, could be pivotal for the prevention of oropharyngeal cancers that form on the tonsils and tongue.

By mid-adulthood, most people have been exposed to HPV. The same strains that cause cervical cancer (mainly HPV 16 and 18) cause head and neck cancers. While verified tests exist to detect HPV in people before they develop cervical cancer, the same is not true for HPV-related head and neck cancers, which are expected to outnumber cervical cancer.

Only about five percent of HPV-infected people will develop cancer of the mouth or throat, suggesting most people's immune systems can easily hold back HPV infections. Matthew Miller, M.D., associate professor of Otolaryngology and Neurosurgery at URMC believes the answer lies is biofilms - thin, slimy sheets of bacteria. He and his colleagues found HPV encased in biofilms inside pockets on the tonsil surface, called tonsil crypts, which is where HPV-related head and neck cancers often originate.

Researchers studied tissue samples from 102 patients who had elective tonsillectomies. Five of those samples contained HPV and four contained high risk strains, HPV 16 and 18. In every case, HPV was found in tonsil crypts biofilms. They believes HPV is shed from the tonsil during an active infection and gets trapped in the biofilm, where it may be protected from immune attack. In the crypts, the virus likely lays in wait for an opportunity to reinstate infection or invade the tonsil tissue to develop
cancer.

Lack of universal HPV immunization and the potential for the virus to evade the immune system even in individuals with detectable HPV in their blood, our findings could have far-reaching implications for identifying people at risk of developing HPV-related head and neck cancers and ultimately preventing them.
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IUDs may prevent cervical cancer

IUDs are safe and highly effective contraception method, intrauterine devices (IUDs) may also be quietly offering protection against the third-most common cancer in women worldwide.

The number of women diagnosed with cervical cancer is steadily rising. According to the World Health Organization WHO, approximately 528,000 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer worldwide in 2012, and 266,000 women died from the disease. By 2035, the WHO projects that those numbers will climb to more than 756,000 and 416,000, respectively.

For women in developing countries, where cervical cancer prevention resources such as the human papillomavirus HPV vaccine or regular cervical screenings are scarce, and where populations are increasing rapidly, a contraceptive that offers protection against cervical cancer could have a profound effect.

IUDs could be a tool to combat cervical cancer. Some scientists speculate that the placement of an IUD stimulates an immune response in the cervix, giving the body an opportunity to fight an existing HPV infection that could lead to cervical cancer. Another possibility is that when an IUD is removed, some cervical cells that contain HPV infection or precancerous changes may be scraped off. The body mounts an immune response to having an IUD placed.
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HPV vaccine does not cause infertility

The human papilloma virus HPV is  a family of viruses, there are over 110 different types of HPV and more than 50 types that affect the genitals.
Different types of HPV are either high risk or low risk, depending on the conditions they can cause.

Some types of HPV can cause warts or verrucas. Others are associated with cervical cancer. Infection with low-risk HPV causes no symptoms and goes away without treatment. But infection with some high-risk types of HPV can cause abnormal tissue growth and cell changes that can lead to cervical cancer.

HPV infection is spread during sexual intercourse, it has been linked with reduced semen quality and lower pregnancy rates. Sexually transmitted infections STIs are associated with lower fertility, but vaccinated women with an STI history had about the same chance of becoming pregnant as unvaccinated women who had never had an STI.

Infection with other types of HPV may cause genital warts, skin warts, verrucas, vaginal cancer or vulval cancer. There is no adverse effects of HPV vaccination on fertility.

HPV is common, almost all sexually active men and women get the virus at some point in life. Having HPV can increase the risk of cervical cancer and removing cancerous or precancerous cells from cervix can reduce fertility.
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Effectiveness of cervical cancer vaccine

A vaccine that can eradicate the majority of cervical cancer cases shows long-term effectiveness, researchers examined different women in different countries after taking the vaccine the results showed that vaccination with Gardasil 9 can reduce 90 percent of cervical cancers.

The vaccine is unique in its ability to prevent certain cancers. HPV infections cause global disease and deaths. Routine screening by Pap smears or tests for HPV infection has reduced death rates. Vaccination against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus HPV prevents some cancers.

The vaccine immunizes against nine genotypes of HPV known to cause cervical cancer, as well as vulvar, vaginal and anal cancers and genital warts caused by HPV.

Gardasil vaccine targets the two HPV genotypes that caused about 70 percent of cervical cancer and two other genotypes that cause genital warts. Gardasil 9 targets those four genotypes and five others. Both vaccines are prophylactic, meant to be given before females or males become exposed to HPV infection through intimate contact.

Women were followed for efficacy at preventing disease for up to six years after the first vaccine shots, and they were followed for production of infection-halting antibodies against the nine genotypes of HPV for more than five years.

They were followed by gynecological examination for evidence of infections or disease, and their blood sera were tested for antibody levels against HPV.
Gardasil 9 showed 97.4 percent efficacy to prevent infections and disease caused by the five additional HPV genotypes not included in the four-valent Gardasil vaccine. Gardasil 9 vaccination produced similar antibody protection against the four HPV genotypes in Gardasil.
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HPV vaccine can reduce cervical cancer

Cervical cancer affects more than half a million women and causes more than a quarter of a million deaths globally.
Cervical cancers result from a human papillomavirus, or HPV infection.

HPV infections can cause cancers in other parts of the body, the latest HPV vaccine could prevent infections and many cancers.

The HPV vaccine could prevent up to 90 percent of HPV-related cancers, the vaccine can prevent HPV infection if the vaccine is given before exposure to any of the HPV types that the vaccine protects against.

 Different formulas of the HPV vaccine protect against different types of HPV. Only two types, HPV16 and HPV18, cause 70 percent or more of all invasive cervical cancers and all HPV vaccine formulas protect against these two.

 The nonavalent formula of the HPV vaccine is the most protective: it protects against HPV16, HPV18 and five other cancer-causing HPV types.

Experts estimate that the nonavalent HPV vaccine could reduce HPV-related cancers worldwide by 90 percent or more if the entire global population received it.
     


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Breast milk can kill cancer

Breast milk is being used to fight cancer after scientists discovered it contains a substance that kills tumour cells.

Trials in patients with bladder cancer yielded good results and researchers believe the compound breast milk contains – nicknamed Hamlet – will also help tackle bowel cancer and cervical cancer.

Breast milk is better than chemotherapy because it does not destroy healthy cells. Professor Catharine Svanborg, who made the initial discovery, said ‘There’s something magical about Hamlet’s ability to target tumour cells and kill them.’

Human breast milk contained a protein called alpha-lactalbumin, which is transformed into a cancer-fighting agent when in the gut.

Prof Svanborg, an immunologist at Lund University in Sweden, made the chance discovery that the substance kills tumour cells when working on antibiotics.

New breast milk is a very good source of  antimicrobial agents. During one
experiment we needed human cells and bacteria to be present, and we chose human tumour cells for practical reasons.

‘To our amazement, when we added this compound of milk, the tumour cells died. The substance attacks cancer cells  in numerous ways – first evading the cell’s outer defences, then targeting the ‘power station’ mitochondria and the  nucleus.

These actions cut off the cell’s energy source and ‘programme’ it to commit suicide, in a process called apoptosis.
Early trials in patients with bladder cancer show those injected with Hamlet start shedding dead tumour cells in their urine within days.