Research gains new insights into how virus that causes cervical cancer evades immune system

Researchers from New Zealand’s University of Otago have gained fresh insights into how one of the main viruses that cause cervical cancer evades its hosts’ immune systems. Their findings, which are published in the international journal Scientific Reports, suggest that a protein known as E7, produced by a high-risk type of human papillomavirus (HPV16), may be the key player in suppressing the body’s immune response to the virus. While most people with an HPV infection will clear the virus from their bodies within two years, 10-20 per cent of those infected will fail to do so and become at much higher risk of developing cervical cancer. Around 1,550 women are diagnosed with high-grade pre-malignant cervical cancer in New Zealand, and globally around half a million women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year. In countries without organised screening programmes, cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer mortality in women. Study lead author Associate...