HPV vaccination for prevention of skin cancer

Abstract

C utaneous papillomaviruses are associated with specific skin diseases, such as extensive wart formation and the development of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC), especially in immunosuppressed patients. Hence, clinical approaches are required that prevent such lesions. Licensed human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines confer typerestricted protection against HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18, responsible of 90% of genital warts and 70% of cervical cancers, respectively. However, they do not protect against less prevalent high-risk types or cutaneous HPVs. Over the past few years, several studies explored the potential of developing vaccines targeting cutaneous papillomaviruses. These vaccines showed to be immunogenic and prevent skin tumor formation in certain animal models. Furthermore, under conditions mimicking the ones found in the intended target population (i.e., immunosuppression and in the presence of an already established infection before vaccination), recent preclinical data shows that immunization can still be effective. Strategies are currently focused on finding vaccine formulations that can confer protection against a broad range of papillomavirus-associated diseases. The stateof-the-art of these approaches and the future directions in the field will be presented.

The pathogenesis of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in organ transplant recipients

“…Although the cornerstone of anogenital cancer prevention, existing vaccines provide type‐restricted protection against alpha rather than betaPV types and so the rationale for their use in cSCC is less convincing. However, animal studies have shown that vaccination against betaPV types is a feasible approach to cSCC prevention, even in the setting of immunosuppression, and recent experimental data hold promise that effective, next‐generation vaccine candidates targeting cutaneous HPV infection are in sight . Although the human situation is complicated by uncertainties relating to the highest risk viruses, prevention or timely treatment of specific betaPV infections by vaccination or even antiviral drugs remains a possible future approach for reducing cSCC burden in OTR.…”

Transcriptome analysis of Mastomys natalensis papillomavirus in productive lesions after natural infection

“…Infection with the skin-type MnPV occurs naturally early in the lifetime of the animals, which resembles the situation with most cutaneous HPVs. In a previous study, it was shown that M. coucha is an excellent model to test vaccination strategies against cutaneous papillomavirus infections under natural conditions (Vinzón et al, 2014;Vinzón & Rösl, 2015). Furthermore, as MnPV infection mimics several aspects of cutaneous HPV-associated disease in humans, studies in this rodent could provide insights as to how lesions form and progress in naturally infected immunocompetent animals, also under the influence of co-factors such as immunosuppressants and UV irradiation.…”

Epidermodisplasia Verruciforme

“…4,5 Respecto a la vacuna contra VPH, se ha sugerido que puede ser beneficiosa para portadores de EV, sin embargo no se ha demostrado su eficacia, lo que se atribuye principalmente a que los tipos de VPH más frecuentemente asociados a EV (VPH 5 y 8), no están cubiertos por la vacuna. 10 …”