Human Herpesviruses 1 And : The Herpes Simplex Viruses
HSV-1 and HSV-2 have evolved numerous mechanisms to evade host detection and immune responses and usually establish lifelong latency. HSV-1 has been detected in benign and malignant thyroid tumours, while HSV-2 has been found associated with papillary thyroid cancer and the presence of lymph node metastases . Additionally, HSV-2 is associated with prostate cancer, melanoma incidence in both men and women , and cervical cancer .
HSV-1 and HSV-2 impair the immune system by affecting T-cell receptor signalling. These viruses inhibit the T-cell receptor -stimulated formation of a linker required for the activation of a T-cell signalling complex. As a result, TCR-stimulated NF-B activation and selective TCR-stimulated interleukin-10 synthesis are inhibited, resulting in favoured viral replication and suppressed cellular immunity . HSV has been reported to inhibit the type I interferon response , and HSV-1 infected cells can resist T-cell induced apoptosis through expression of the Us5 gene product gJ . The HSV-1 infected cell protein 47 blocks the peptide transporter , preventing access of antigenic peptides into the class I pathway . HSV-1 has also been shown to block CTL-induced Ag-dependent apoptosis . Additionally, infection of human B lymphoblastoid cells by HSV-1 in vitro resulted in decreased ability to induce CD4+T cell clone proliferation and cytokine secretion through US1 gene expression .
Harnessing The Herpes Virus To Beat A Deadly Brain Cancer
TUESDAY, Feb. 8, 2022 — A genetically modified herpes virus appears to deliver a “one-two punch” to the rare and deadly form of brain cancer that killed U.S. Sen. John McCain, new findings show.
Glioblastomabrain tumors are a cancer nightmare, with an average survival of 12 to 15 months from initial diagnosis and four to six months after recurrence, researchers say. McCain died in August 2018, one year after doctors discovered he had the aggressive cancer.
“Despite 50 to 60 years of research and advances in surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, we haven’t pushed the needle much at all in terms of survival,” said senior researcher Dr. James Markert, chairman of neurosurgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Heersink School of Medicine. “Only 5% to 10% of patients live longer than five years. It’s almost universally fatal.”
But an experimental cancer-fighting herpes simplex virus called G207 has shown promise in fighting glioblastoma, and a paper published Feb. 1 in Clinical Cancer Research provides a better idea how.
It’s been known that G207 directly attacks and kills brain tumor cells, Markert said.
“There’s something different about tumor cells’ defense against viruses, so that the changes in the DNA that kept the virus from being infectious in normal human cells weren’t present in the tumor cells,” he said. “As a result, the virus became selective for infecting and killing tumor cells.”
The herpes virus was then injected directly into the site of their tumors.
E What Diagnostic Tests Should Be Performed
The diagnostic test of choice is PCR.
The diagnosis is made clinically and rarely are the confirmatory laboratory tests needed. The Tzanck smear is still available but not performed by many and viral culture is very low yield. If serologic studies are positive, the diagnosis is generally assumed to be HSV.
Recommended Reading: How Do They Test You For Herpes
Herpes Viruses And Cancer
It has been known for some time that these ubiquitous viruses can cause cancer in experimental anilnals. There is now much evidence that a virus of this type is also implicated in some cancers of man
This is a preview. Make a selection below to access this issue.Already have access? .
Having trouble accessing this article? Please visit our page for more information
Viruses That Cause Cancer
You may not associate viruses with cancer, but there are severaloncoviruses that increase your risk for the disease. Learn what they areand how you can protect yourself.
Researchers know that there are several viruses that can lead to cancer. For example, the human papillomavirus can cause cervical and several other cancers. And hepatitis C can lead to liver cancer and non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Studying viruses and cancer is helping researchers develop vaccines and other ways to reduce cancer risk. We spoke with Harrys Torres, M.D., associate professor of Infectious Diseases, to learn more. Heres what he had to say.
How do viruses cause cancer?
Viruses are very small organisms. They are made up of genes DNA or RNA surrounded by a protein coating. There are several oncoviruses, or viruses that causes cancer:
Epstein-Barr virus is a herpes virus thats spread through saliva. EBV infection increases the risk of Burkitt lymphoma, some types of Hodgkins and non-Hodgkins lymphoma and stomach cancer. There is currently no vaccine for Epstein-Barr virus.
Hepatitis B virus is spread through infected blood, semen and other body fluids. Hepatitis B is a leading cause of liver cancer. The hepatitis B vaccine is recommended for all children and adults. If you are not sure if youve been vaccinated, talk to your doctor.
Human herpes virus 8 is related to Kaposi sarcoma in people who have a weakened immune system. That includes patients with HIV.
Don’t Miss: How To Quickly Get Rid Of Herpes
Human Herpesvirus : Varicella Zoster Virus
Herpes zoster is a frequent complication of lymphoreticular malignancy. In immunocompromised patients, varicella may present atypically in the form of disseminated ulcerative or necrotic skin lesions . Also, the duration of replication and virus shedding can be extended, resulting in protracted disease . This complication, like many others, is well-described in advanced stages of leukaemia and lymphoproliferative disorders, particularly after chemotherapy .
Although acyclovir is the standard treatment for herpes virus infections, resistance can develop, causing fatality . VZV may exacerbate the condition of cancer patients and worsen prognosis.
Viruses Linked To Cancer
There are few viruses that have been linked to cancer. Yet some of them are quite common.
Epstein-Barr virus
This virus is best known for causing mononucleosis . Most people in the U.S. will get EBV at some point, whether or not they actually get sick. EBV will stay in your body for life, usually not causing problems.
However, EBV can sometimes trigger a type of lymphoma, cancer of the lymphatic system.
While theres no vaccine for the Epstein-Barr virus, you can limit your exposure by not sharing personal items, food, drinks or kissing someone who has it.
Hepatitis B and C
These viruses spread through contact with infected blood and having sex with a person who is infected. People with these viruses have hepatitis or an inflamed liver. If the infection lasts a long time, it can permanently damage your liver, called cirrhosis. Cirrhosis can lead to liver cancer.
While medication can help get rid of hepatitis C, medication for hepatitis B doesnt cure it. It can help lower the chances of liver damage and liver cancer.
There is a vaccine available for hepatitis B.
Human herpes virus 8
This virus is spread mostly through saliva, but may also be spread through sexual contact or blood. While it doesnt cause symptoms in most people who have it, it can cause Kaposi sarcoma, especially in people with a weakened immune system.
Practicing safe sex by using condoms and limiting your number of sexual partners can lessen your chance of becoming infected with human herpes virus 8.
Also Check: What’s The Chances Of Passing Herpes Without Outbreak
Fda Approves Drug That Uses Herpes Virus To Fight Cancer
WASHINGTON — Federal health officials on Tuesday approved a first-of-a-kind drug that uses the herpes virus to infiltrate and destroy deadly skin cancer tumors.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the injectable drug from Amgen Inc. for patients with hard-to-treat melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer that is expected to be diagnosed in 74,000 U.S. patients this year. For now, the drug is only approved for melanoma tumors that cannot be removed surgically.
The drug, Imlygic, is injected directly into tumor tissue, where it uses herpes as a Trojan horse to slip past and rupture cancer cells. The drug combines a gene snippet meant to stimulate the immune system with a modified version of the herpes simplex virus — the kind that causes mouth cold sores.
Despite the drug’s groundbreaking approach, FDA officials stressed it has not been shown to extend life. Instead, company studies showed that about 16 percent of patients injected with the drug saw their tumors shrink, compared with 2 percent of patients who took more conventional cancer drugs. That effect lasted at least six months.
Regulators stressed that Imlygic had no effect on melanoma that had spread to the brain, lungs or other internal organs.
Doctors give an initial round of injections, followed by a second dose three weeks later and then regular injections every two weeks thereafter.
Human Herpesviruses 6 And 7
Roseoloviruses, HHV6 and HHV7, are linked to many lymphoproliferative cancers as well as other types, including paediatric lymphoma , Hodgkins lymphoma, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, acute leukaemia , basal cell carcinoma and glioma . HHV6 is a T-lymphotropic virus. HHV6 is permissive to neural, epithelial and fibroblast cells in vitro, but has a particular tropism to immune cells, such as CD4+ T cells, monocytes, macrophages, NK cells, and DCs. HHV6 enters through human CD46 receptor, which is important for T cell response and can induce high proliferation of IL-10 . HHV-6 is then transmitted to CD4+ T cells via monocyte-derived DCs . The virus replicates predominantly in CD4+ T lymphocytes and reduces their proliferation . HHV-6 eventually persists latently in monocytes or macrophage-lineage cells . HHV-7 infects both primary CD4+ T lymphocytes and SupT1 lymphoblastoid T-cell line. This type of infection contributes to cancer development due to an accumulation of cells in gap 2/mitosis phase, polyploidy, and an increased cell size. In HHV7 infected cells due to the cell-cycle regulation, cdc2 is activated, thus preventing cytotoxic T-cells activity and altering immune response .
Don’t Miss: How To Handle Herpes Outbreak
How Viruses Can Cause Cancer
Heres how a virus may cause cancer:
Most viruses, like those that cause colds and flu, never get to step 4.
Viruses that infect your lungs and airways, for example, dont stay in your body for long, says Dr. Shepard. Even if the virus enters your airway cells and attaches to your DNA, your immune system will get rid of those faulty cells quickly. However, cells in other areas of your body, like your liver, dont refresh as fast. Infections in those cells can become more dangerous.
Strategies For Creating Replication
Many strategies have been used to create tumor-selective oncolytic viruses . These strategies can be grouped into three general approaches. The first approach is to delete gene functions that are critical for efficient viral replication in normal cells but are dispensable in tumor cells, exemplified by replication-selective adenovirus mutant ONYX-015., Many replication-conditional HSV-1 vectors have included mutations and/or deletions in one or more of the genes encoding thymidine kinase, DNA polymerase, uracil DNA glycosylase, ribonucleotide reductase , and ICP34.5. The second approach is to limit the expression of a critical viral gene to tumor tissues through the use of tumor- and/or tissue-specific promoters, represented by the adenovirus mutant CV706., The third approach is to alter viral tropism through modification of surface proteins., Thus far, all of these approaches have been successfully used to engineer tumor-specific herpesviruses.
Also Check: Why Do I Keep Having Genital Herpes Outbreaks
Viruses That Can Lead To Cancer
Viruses are very small organisms most cant even be seen with an ordinary microscope. They are made up of a small number of genes in the form of DNA or RNA surrounded by a protein coating. A virus must enter a living cell and take over the cells machinery in order to reproduce and make more viruses. Some viruses do this by inserting their own DNA into that of the host cell. When the DNA or RNA affects the host cells genes, it can push the cell toward becoming cancer.
In general, each type of virus tends to infect only a certain type of cell in the body.
Several viruses are linked with cancer in humans. Our growing knowledge of the role of viruses as a cause of cancer has led to the development of vaccines to help prevent certain human cancers. But these vaccines can only protect against infections if they are given before the person is exposed to the cancer-promoting virus.
B Appropriate Prophylaxis And Other Measures To Prevent Readmission
Consideration for chronic suppressive therapy if a patient has severe frequent outbreaks.
2015 Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment Guidelines.. .
Fanfair, RN, Zaidi, A, Taylor, LD, Xu, F, Gottlieb, S, Markowitz, L. Trends in seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus type 2 among non-Hispanic blacks and non-Hispanic whites aged 14 to 49 years United States, 1988 to 2010. Sex Transm Dis. vol. 40. 2013. pp. 860-4.
Kennedy, PG, Rovnak, J, Badani, H, Cohrs, RJ. A comparison of herpes simplex virus type 1 and varicella-zoster virus latency and reactivation. J Gen Virol. vol. 96. 2015 Jul. pp. 1581-602.
Kennedy, PG, Steiner, I. Recent issues in herpes simplex encephalitis. J Neurovirol. vol. 19. 2013 Aug. pp. 346-50.
Le Cleach, L, Trinquart, L, Do, G. Oral antiviral therapy for prevention of genital herpes outbreaks in immunocompetent and non-pregnant patients. . vol. 8. 2014. pp. CD009036
Levitz, RE. Herpes simplex encephalitis: a review. Heart Lung. vol. 27. 1998. pp. 209
Sawleshwarkar, S, Dwyer, DE. Antivirals for herpes simplex viruses. BMJ.. vol. 351. 2015 Jul 9. pp. h3350
Steiner, I, Schmutzhard, E, Sellner, J, Chaudhuri, A, Kennedy, PG. EFNS-ENS guidelines for the use of PCR technology for the diagnosis of infections of the nervous system. Eur J Neurol. vol. 19. pp. 1278-1291.
Also Check: Can You Cure Herpes 1
Does Herpes Raise Your Cancer Risk
It’s scary to say, but genital herpes is incredibly common: nationwide, 16.2 percent, or about one out of six, people 14 to 49 years of age have genital HSV-2 infection. Most cases of genital herpes are caused by a herpes simplex virus called HSV-2, though some cases of this sexually transmitted disease are caused by another herpes simplex virus, HSV-1. While herpes is treatable, it’s also packs a variety of risks. And one worry is whether herpes could, in fact, increase one’s risk of cancer.
While herpes is not directly linked to the development of cervical or oral cancer, Human Papilloma Virus , another group of viruses, is associated with some cancers. A large number of people with HPV have come down with penile, head or neck cancer, says Joshua Rosenberg, MD, an infectious diseases specialist and associate director of the intensive care unit at Long Island College Hospital in New York. And, he adds, having herpes might lead to an increased risk of invasive cervical cancer in patients co-infected with HPV.
“The strongest link between the two illnesses is that people who have herpes are frequently co-infected with HPV,” Rosenberg says. “But there is not a direct link between herpes and cancer.”
To further confuse matters, HPV isn’t just one virus, but more than 100 related viruses. Only some types of HPV appear to cause cancer.
Here’s what the American Cancer Society recommends for women:
What Causes Herpes Simplex
Herpes simplex viruses spread from person to person through close contact. You can get a herpes simplex virus from touching a herpes sore. Most people, however, get herpes simplex from an infected person who does not have sores. Doctors call this asymptomatic viral shedding.
How people get herpes around their mouth
A person with HSV-1 can pass it to someone else by:
-
Touching the persons skin, such as pinching a childs cheek
-
Sharing objects such as silverware, lip balm, or a razor
How people get herpes on their genitals
You can get genital herpes after coming into contact with HSV-1 or HSV-2. Most people get genital herpes from HSV-2, which they get during sex. If someone has a cold sore and performs oral sex, this can spread HSV-1 to the genitals, and cause herpes sores on the genitals.
Mothers can give the herpes virus to their baby during childbirth. If the baby is born during the motherâs first episode of genital herpes, the baby can have serious problems.
You May Like: What Can Help Herpes Outbreaks
Ii Diagnostic Confirmation: Are You Sure Your Patient Has A Herpes Virus
HSV infection can be confirmed with HSV PCR assays, viral culture, serology, immunofluorescence, or a Tzanck preparation. Of all these methods, PCR assay is the most sensitive and specific.
Diagnosis by PCR has become the gold standard for real-time diagnosis of HSV infection, particularly in cases of HSV encephalitis, but can also be used in mucocutaneous and genital eruptions. The sensitivity for detecting HSV DNA by cerebrospinal PCR is approximately 96 %, and the specificity is approximately 99 %.
Viral culture yields highest if collected within 24-48 hours of appearance of lesions. The vesicle should be unroofed with a sterile instrument and vesicular fluid is collected with a sterile swab and placed in viral culture medium. Recovery of the virus with this method is possible in only 7-25% of patients.
Several different serologic assays have been used to diagnose HSV. This has limited use, however, due to persistence of type-specific antibodies indefinitely. Serologic studies may be negative in early stages of an infection, and you would expect a several fold rise between acute and convalescent sera. Type specific HSV serologic testing may be helpful in diagnosing a patient with recurrent genital lesions and a negative HSV PCR or viral culture.
Direct immunofluorescent staining uses fluorescein-labeled HSV type-specific monoclonal antibodies, but again is not as sensitive as PCR.
Can Herpes Meningoencephalitis Be Prevented
Avoiding herpes virus infections in the first place can help you prevent herpes meningoencephalitis. Ways to avoid infections from herpes viruses include:
-
Abstain from sex or have only one sex partner who has been tested for the virus and isnât infected.
-
Use a latex condom, which can reduce but not entirely prevent the risk of infection.
-
Avoid kissing people with cold sore blisters. Itâs important to keep in mind that most people have already been infected with HSV1 virus by the time theyâre 20 years old. If youâve already been infected, the virus goes dormant inside your body except during outbreaks.
Some pregnant women who have had genital herpes outbreaks may want to have their babies delivered by cesarean section. This may prevent meningoencephalitis in newborns.
Read Also: How To Stop Herpes Itching
Recommended Reading: What Are Signs Of Herpes Virus