Testing of human papillomavirus in lung cancer and non-tumor lung tissue

Our plain-English summary of Testing of human papillomavirus in lung cancer and non-tumor lung tissue, by A. Galvan, S. Noci, F. Taverna, et al (BMC Cancer, 2012).

The study

• Authors: A. Galvan, S. Noci, F. Taverna, C. Lombardo, S. Franceschi, U. Pastorino, T.A. Dragani
• Journal: BMC Cancer
• Published: 2012;12:512
• Cited by: 17 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Background: Risk factors for lung cancer, such as cigarette smoking, environmental pollution, asbestos, and genetic determinants, are well-known, whereas involvement of the human papillomavirus (HPV) is still unclear.

Methods: We examined a series of 100 lung cancer patients from Italy and the UK for the presence of HPV DNA in both lung tumor specimens and adjacent non-tumoral specimens from the same patients. Thirty-five of the most clinically relevant HPV types were assayed using PCR amplification of the highly conserved L1 region of the viral genome followed by hybridization with specific probes.

Results: No HPV was detected in tumor specimens nor in normal lung tissue of any patient.

Conclusions: These data indicate that, in this Western series, HPV is not associated with the risk of lung cancer. Our findings will help refine estimates of lung cancer risk in patients affected by a common viral infection involved in other types of human cancer.

In plain English

This laboratory study looked for human papillomavirus (HPV), a virus that causes cervical cancer, in lung tissue from 100 lung cancer patients treated at two hospitals in Milan, Italy, and one in London, UK. It did not study asbestos, which the article mentions only as a known lung cancer risk factor. All patients had part of a lung removed by surgery. The researchers tested the tumor and a sample of normal lung taken away from the tumor, using a kit that detects up to 35 HPV types. Results were available for 95 tumor samples and 100 normal-tissue samples. Five tumor samples first gave weak, doubtful signals for HPV44, and two normal samples gave borderline signals for HPV11. Repeat testing with a new batch of the kit did not confirm any of these, so every sample was counted as HPV-negative. The authors concluded that their findings strongly indicate HPV plays no disease-causing role in lung cancer in a Western population. The article lists no limitations.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Laboratory study testing surgically removed lung tumor tissue and normal lung tissue from the same patients for HPV DNA
• Who was studied: 100 lung cancer patients who had lung lobectomy: 87 in Italy (44 at Istituto Europeo di Oncologia and 43 at Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan) and 13 in the UK (Royal Brompton Hospital, London). 35 were men and 65 women. 72 had adenocarcinoma, 20 squamous cell carcinoma and 8 other types. 54% were stage I and 19% were non-smokers. Recruitment dates are not given.
• Exposure: Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV), tested as viral DNA for up to 35 HPV types: 20 classed as high risk and 15 as low risk for cervical cancer. Asbestos exposure was not studied.
• Main results:
  • No HPV was found in any of the 95 tumor samples that could be tested (0 of 67 adenocarcinoma, 0 of 20 squamous cell carcinoma, 0 of 8 other).
  • Five tumor samples were first weakly and doubtfully positive for HPV44 but tested negative when repeated with a new batch of the kit.
  • No HPV was confirmed in any of the 100 normal lung tissue samples (0 of 72, 0 of 20 and 0 of 8 by tumor type). Two samples were borderline positive for HPV11 at first, but repeat testing did not confirm this.
  • Every sample passed the built-in control for DNA quality, so the negative results were not caused by missing DNA.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that their findings strongly indicate HPV has no disease-causing role in lung cancer in a Western population.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Lung cancer.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Lung Cancer.

Related studies

• Human mesotheliomas contain the simian virus-40 regulatory region and large tumor antigen DNA sequences — H.I. Pass, J.S. Donington, et al. (1998)
• Lung adenocarcinoma and human papillomavirus infection — Y.C. Chen, J.H. Chen, et al. (2004)
• Simian virus 40 large T antigen (SV40LTAg) primer specific DNA amplification in human pleural mesothelioma tissue — C. Pepper, B. Jasani, et al. (1996)
• HPV infections and lung cancer — K.J. Syrjänen (2002)
• Association of SV40 with human tumours — B. Jasani, A. Cristaudo, et al. (2001)
• Simian virus 40 is present in most United States human mesotheliomas, but it is rarely present in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma — P. Rizzo, M. Carbone, et al. (1999)

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