Skin cancer viruses: bench to bedside – HPV, HHV8 and Merkel cell carcinoma virus

Abstract

Viral infection in cancer is common. Although there is still debate whether viruses alone can cause tumors, the discovery of tumor viruses has enlightened many fields of tumor biology and viral oncogenesis. With the advances of biotechnology, the list of tumor viruses will grow in the coming decades. However, to determine if a candidate virus causes cancer, the key is to combine epidemiological and molecular biologic data. Recently, promising viral targeted therapies include anti-latent viral drugs and immunological therapies. In this article, we review the current knowledge of the role of human papillomavirus, human herpesvirus 8, and Merkel cell polyomavirus in skin cancer carcinogenesis, with a focus on recent literature.