Skin cancer may be linked to type of HPV

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TAMPA, Fla., July 2 (UPI) -- U.S., French and German researchers found links between cutaneous human papillomavirus and a kind of skin cancer -- squamous cell carcinoma.

"Squamous cell carcinoma of the skin is the second-most frequently occurring cancer among U.S. Caucasians and the numbers of cases continue to rise," lead author Dana E. Rollison, vice president and chief health information officer at the Moffitt Cancer Center said in a statement. "Risk factors for squamous cell carcinoma include ultraviolet radiation exposure via the sun, older age, light skin and suppressed immune system."

Cutaneous human papillomavirus infection -- not the mucosal HPV infection that is associated with cervical cancers -- might be an additional risk factor for squamous cell carcinoma, Rollison and colleagues said.

The study involved 173 squamous cell carcinoma cases from a university dermatology clinic and 300 controls who screened negative for skin cancer. Tumor tissue from 159 squamous cell carcinoma cases was tested for the presence of cutaneous HPV infection.

The study found squamous cell carcinoma was significantly associated with antibodies to HPV 10 in genus alpha and HPV types 8 and 17 in genus beta.

The findings were published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.