Scientists discovered that HPV antibodies are substantially increased in people with lung cancer. Comparing with the people without lung cancer, patients with lung cancer were significantly more likely to have several high-risk forms of human papillomavirus (HPV) antibodies. (CUSABIO offers antibodies ang proteins. )The study involved 1,633 lung cancer cases and 2,729 matched controls from six central European countries. The researchers used serological tests to detect the presence of several high-risk and low-risk types of HPV in the participants. Among the lung-cancer-free controls, scientists discovered a low prevalence of antibodies to all types of HPV tested. In lung cancer patients, antibodies to proteins in eight types of high-risk HPV were significantly increased.
It is known that smoking is the strongest risk factor for lung cancer. It did not account for this effect. The results were consistent in current smokers, former smokers and those who never smoked.
Prior research had identified the presence of HPV in lung cancer. But these studies had been limited by small average sample size and variations in methodology. The researchers had aready known that HPV can reach the lung. However, whether HPV can cause frank malignancies remains a unclear.
High-risk HPV types 16, 18 together account for approximately 70 percent of cervical cancers. Moreover, low-risk types, like HPV6 and HPV11, which cause benign diseases like genital warts, have also been found in respiratory papillomatosis, a benign lung condition.
HPV infection is very common, particularly among young adults. The researchers look for some seropositivity for antibodies to the L1 protein in the general population. However, the early proteins E6 and E7 of high-risk HPV are markers of carcinogenic transformation. These proteins were more common in people with lung cancer.