Do viruses promote white skin cancer?
Dr. Andrea Bannert has been with since 2013. The doctor of biology and medicine editor initially carried out research in microbiology and is the team's expert on the tiny things: bacteria, viruses, molecules and genes. She also works as a freelancer for Bayerischer Rundfunk and various science magazines and writes fantasy novels and children's stories.
More about the experts All content is checked by medical journalists.Viruses may play a role in the development of white skin cancer: human beta-type papillomaviruses. They have a mechanism with which they paralyze the body's own protective police, which normally tame degenerated cells. Especially in people with weakened immune systems, this could significantly increase the risk of developing white skin cancer.
Confused cell regulation
Viruses cannot multiply on their own - they always need a host that produces their genetic material and the other virus components for them. The viruses insert the genetic blueprint for this into the DNA of the host cells. It is easy to imagine that something can get mixed up in the regulatory mechanisms of the host cell. The result: the cells grow in an uncontrolled manner and a tumor develops. It is now known that viruses are also responsible for various types of cancer - including cervical cancer, stomach cancer, penile, liver, tongue and throat cancer.
Anna Marthaler and her colleagues from Professor Sigrun Smola's team at the Institute for Virology at Saarland University discovered another example. Based on animal experiments, scientists have long suspected that papilloma viruses could also play a role in the development of white skin cancer. Marthaler examined this connection in humans.
Viruses prevent the construction of protective proteins
To do this, she analyzed tissue samples from patients with epidermodysplasia verruciformis, a rare skin disease associated with a high risk of skin cancer. Due to a genetic defect, beta human papilloma viruses (HPV), such as HPV-8, have an easy time infecting the skin of those affected. Perfect conditions for scientists to find out what the viruses are doing in the body's shell.
"We discovered that a single viral protein is enough to inhibit the skin's self-protection," explains Marthaler. The so-called HPV8 E6 oncoprotein blocks a gene that is important for cancer protection. It is involved in the construction of a protective molecule called C / EBPalpha, which normally attenuates the harmful effects of UV light on the skin. If it is missing, skin cells can multiply uncontrollably and cancer develops.
Early infection
“This mechanism probably promotes cancer development, especially in people with a weak immune system,” says Marthaler. To what extent the beta HP viruses also increase the risk of white skin cancer in people with good immune systems, the researchers cannot yet say for sure. “It is definitely conceivable. We observe the same mechanism in our cell cultures and artificial skin models in the laboratory - without a weakened immune system, ”says Marthaler.
In contrast to the HP viruses that cause cervical cancer, the beta types of the virus do not attack the mucous membranes but the skin cells. Correspondingly, beta HP viruses are also more widespread. Most people become infected as babies through skin contact with their mother. Therefore, it is difficult to examine the connection between infection and skin cancer risk, according to the scientist. The group of uninfected people, who should have a correspondingly lower risk of developing white skin cancer, is simply too small.
Using a vaccine against beta HPV is difficult given the early timing of infection. "Perhaps it will be possible to reactivate the protective protein," says Marthaler. But that is still a long way off
Most common type of skin cancer
Both basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma are counted as white skin cancer. They mainly occur on areas of the skin that are exposed to a lot of UV light - especially the head and neck. White skin cancer is the most common form of skin cancer. People with light skin color are particularly often affected by skin types I and II. It is crucial that you detect white skin cancer early - then it can be cured in 95 percent of cases. In contrast to black skin cancer, malignant melanoma, white skin cancer usually grows slowly and rarely forms metastases.
