Oral HPV infections and the risk of oral and pharyngeal cancer | MCubed Symposium 2013 скачать в хорошем качестве

Oral HPV infections and the risk of oral and pharyngeal cancer | MCubed Symposium 2013

While cervical and other genital cancers are primarily caused by Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infections, recent studies have demonstrated that many individuals also carry HPV in their oral cavity and that a significant fraction of Head and Neck (HN) cancers contain HPV-DNA, suggesting that the virus may be the underlying root of these cancers. Indeed, 90% of UM oropharyngeal cancer patients and 50% of nasopharyngeal cancer patients carry high-risk HPV. However, there remain many open questions about the potential mechanisms by which HPV induces HN cancers, as well as the connection between the ongoing oral HPV epidemic and the rising oropharyngeal cancer incidence. We will use a combination of epidemiological research, genomics and proteomics analyses, and mathematical modeling to better understand the implications of oral HPV infections on HN cancer risk, and to predict the potential effects of HPV vaccination and other prevention strategies on oral and pharyngeal cancer rates. MCubed is a two-year seed-funding program designed to empower interdisciplinary teams of University of Michigan faculty to pursue new initiatives with major societal impact. The program minimizes the time between idea conception and successful research results by providing immediate startup funds for novel, high-risk and transformative research projects. The funds are intended to generate data for groundbreaking, high-impact publications, or preliminary results for new, innovative research proposals. The program also includes high-visibility, campus-wide research symposia to showcase the resulting groundbreaking research. To find out more about the University of Michigan's revolutionary way of funding research, visit: http://mcubed.umich.edu