The world of human papillomaviruses is vast and varied, and causing cervical cancer is just one of the many roles these viruses can take on. From their carcinogenic tendencies to their more benign wart-forming ways, this episode explores what these tiny viruses have taught us about how our bodies prevent cancer, how imaginative old timey cures for warts can be, how slow acceptance of the facts and a failure in marketing led to a delayed and impaired vaccine uptake, and so much more. You could say we’re covering all aspects of this highly-requested topic, warts and all. The historical stigma of cancer as a “woman’s disease”? Check. What’s actually inside a wart? Check. The possible origins of a mythical creature? Check. The massive disparity in vaccine access between high- and low-income countries? Check. Tune in to hear it all.
| History | Biology |
| Lowy, Ilana. A woman’s disease: the history of cervical cancer. OUP Oxford, 2011. | Witchey, D. J., Witchey, N. B., Roth-Kauffman, M. M., & Kauffman, M. K. (2018). Plantar warts: epidemiology, pathophysiology, and clinical management. J Am Osteopath Assoc, 118(2), 92-105. |
| Bravo, Ignacio G., Silvia de Sanjosé, and Marc Gottschling. “The clinical importance of understanding the evolution of papillomaviruses.” Trends in microbiology 18.10 (2010): 432-438. | Mirabello, L., Clarke, M. A., Nelson, C. W., Dean, M., Wentzensen, N., Yeager, M., … & Burk, R. D. (2018). The intersection of HPV epidemiology, genomics and mechanistic studies of HPV-mediated carcinogenesis. |
| Burns, D. A. “‘Warts and all’–the history and folklore of warts: a review.” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 85.1 (1992): 37. | Longworth, M. S., & Laimins, L. A. (2004). Pathogenesis of human papillomaviruses in differentiating epithelia. Microbiology and molecular biology reviews, 68(2), 362-372. |
| Karamanou, Marianna, et al. “From the humble wart to HPV: a fascinating story throughout centuries.” (2010): 133-135. | Castellsagué, X. (2008). Natural history and epidemiology of HPV infection and cervical cancer. Gynecologic oncology, 110(3), S4-S7. |
| Kreider, John W., and Gerald L. Bartlett. “The Shope papilloma-carcinoma complex of rabbits: a model system of neoplastic progression and spontaneous regression.” Advances in cancer research 35 (1981): 81-110. | Bernard, H. U. (2005). The clinical importance of the nomenclature, evolution and taxonomy of human papillomaviruses. Journal of clinical virology, 32, 1-6. |
| Onon, Toli S. “History of human papillomavirus, warts and cancer: What do we know today?.” Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology 25.5 (2011): 565-574. | Woodman, C. B., Collins, S. I., & Young, L. S. (2007). The natural history of cervical HPV infection: unresolved issues. Nature Reviews Cancer, 7(1), 11-22. |
| Ross, Milton S. “Warts in the medical folklore of Europe.” International journal of dermatology 18.6 (1979): 505-509. | Gravitt, P. E. (2011). The known unknowns of HPV natural history. The Journal of clinical investigation, 121(12), 4593-4599. |
| Schiffman, Mark, et al. “The carcinogenicity of human papillomavirus types reflects viral evolution.” Virology 337.1 (2005): 76-84. | Burchell, A. N., Winer, R. L., de Sanjosé, S., & Franco, E. L. (2006). Epidemiology and transmission dynamics of genital HPV infection. Vaccine, 24, S52-S61. |
| Van Doorslaer, Koenraad, and Robert D. Burk. “Evolution of human papillomavirus carcinogenicity.” Advances in virus research 77 (2010): 41-62. | Stanley, M. (2010). Pathology and epidemiology of HPV infection in females. Gynecologic oncology, 117(2), S5-S10. |
| Van Doorslaer, Koenraad. “Evolution of the papillomaviridae.” Virology 445.1-2 (2013): 11-20. | Giuliano, A. R., Anic, G., & Nyitray, A. G. (2010). Epidemiology and pathology of HPV disease in males. Gynecologic oncology, 117(2), S15-S19. |
| Willemsen, Anouk, and Ignacio G. Bravo. “Origin and evolution of papillomavirus (onco) genes and genomes.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 374.1773 (2019): 20180303. | Barraza, L., Weidenaar, K., Campos-Outcalt, D., & Yang, Y. T. (2016). Human papillomavirus and mandatory immunization laws: what can we learn from early mandates?. Public Health Reports, 131(5), 728-731. |
| Oberlin, A. M., Rahangdale, L., Chinula, L., Fuseini, N. M., & Chibwesha, C. J. (2018). Making HPV vaccination available to girls everywhere. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 143(3), 267-276. | |
| Lei, J., Ploner, A., Elfström, K. M., Wang, J., Roth, A., Fang, F., … & Sparén, P. (2020). HPV vaccination and the risk of invasive cervical cancer. New England Journal of Medicine, 383(14), 1340-1348. | |
| WHO Global HPV Cancer Statistics: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/human-papillomavirus-(hpv)-and-cervical-cancer | |
| Arbyn, M., Weiderpass, E., Bruni, L., de Sanjosé, S., Saraiya, M., Ferlay, J., & Bray, F. (2020). Estimates of incidence and mortality of cervical cancer in 2018: a worldwide analysis. The Lancet Global Health, 8(2), e191-e203. | |
| CDC US HPV cancer statistics: https://www.cdc.gov/hpv/parents/cancer.html | |
| Bruni, L., Diaz, M., Barrionuevo-Rosas, L., Herrero, R., Bray, F., Bosch, F. X., … & Castellsagué, X. (2016). Global estimates of human papillomavirus vaccination coverage by region and income level: a pooled analysis. The Lancet Global Health, 4(7), e453-e463. |
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