The Open Clinical Cancer Journal

2011, 5 : 1-7
Published online 2011 January 25. DOI: 10.2174/1874189401105010001
Publisher ID: TOCCJ-5-1

RESEARCH ARTICLE
 Human Papillomavirus Integration and its Role in Cervical Malignant Progression

Rachel Raybould, * , Alison Fiander, * and Sam Hibbitts, *

* Address correspondence to these authors at the Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, CF14 4XN, UK; Tel: 029 2074 4742; E-mails: , , raybouldre1@cf.ac.uk

ABSTRACT

High risk Human Papilloma Virus (HR-HPV) DNA integration into the human genome is one of the key stages in the progression of cervical neoplasia. This mini-review highlights the importance of HPV integration as a potential biomarker for cervical screening and briefly describes the main methods used to detect HPV integration: Amplification of Papillomavirus Oncogene Transcripts (APOT), Restriction Site PCR (RS-PCR), Southern blot and Detection of Integrated Papillomavirus Sequences (DIPS). The potential mechanisms of HPV integration are discussed with a focus on DNA instability; site of integration; and transcriptional regulation of integrants. This article provides an overview of the role HPV integration plays in malignant progression

Keywords:

Human Papillomavirus, integration, cervical cancer, E6 and E7.