Is HPV Infection a Concealed Risk Factor for Prostate Cancer?

Human papillomavirus (HPV) might be connected to prostate cancer and scientists are determined to know how (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Human papillomavirus and prostate cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis

Go to source). Prostate cancer is a serious health issue and one of the main causes of death in men around the world. It's more common in some places, like Europe, North America, and parts of Africa, compared to Asia and North Africa. This is because of differences in wealth and health policies.

Things that Increase Prostate Cancer Risk

Age, genes, and family history can make a person more likely to get prostate cancer. Some specific gene mutations also raise the risk. For instance, the HOXB13 gene mutation increases this risk. Different ethnicities also play a role. For example, black men in the United States and the Caribbean are more likely to get prostate cancer than Asian men.

HPV and Cancer

Viruses are linked to about 15% of all human cancers. Some viruses can change how tumor cells behave, making cancer worse. While HPV is known for causing cervical cancer in women, it doesn't seem to increase the risk of ovarian and uterine cancer.

Some studies have suggested that HPV might affect how prostate cancer develops. They found signs of HPV in prostate cancer samples. However, not all studies agree on this.

The scientists gathered information from different databases to do this study. They looked at 271 articles and selected 27 studies that met their criteria. These studies examined over 1,600 prostate tumor samples and over 1,400 control samples. The control samples were either normal prostate tissue or tissue with a condition called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

HPV and Prostate Cancer Risk

When they compared HPV presence in normal prostate tissue to cancerous tissue, they found a connection. But when they used BPH tissue as a control, the link wasn't as clear. This shows that the type of tissue used for comparison affects how HPV relates to prostate cancer risk.

HPV seems to be a "hit and run" virus in prostate cancer. It's only detectable in the early stages and disappears later on. Some specific types of HPV are more common in BPH tissues before they turn cancerous.

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Besides just finding HPV, it's important to see how it's physically present in the samples. In cancer, the HPV DNA is mixed with the cells' DNA, which makes the cancer grow. It also makes the cancer cells harder to kill.

To conclude, this study suggests that HPV infection increases the risk of prostate cancer in men. However, more research is needed to fully understand how HPV is involved in prostate cancer, especially using normal prostate tissues as a comparison.

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"Investigating the HPV-prostate cancer link opens doors to targeted prevention and treatment strategies, revolutionizing men's health."

Reference:

1. Human papillomavirus and prostate cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis - (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37789036/)

Source-Medindia