WELLINGTON, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand scientists said Friday they had made a breakthrough in identifying how cervical cancer can take hold, which could lead to new treatments.
University of Otago researchers said in a statement they gained a new insight into how one of the main viruses that caused cervical cancer evades its hosts' immune systems.
The findings suggested that a protein known as E7, produced by a high-risk type of human papillomavirus (HPV16), may be the key player in suppressing the body's immune response to the virus.
While most people with an HPV infection cleared the virus from their bodies within two years, 10 percent to 20 percent of those infected failed to do so and become at much higher risk of developing cervical cancer.
Study lead author Associate Professor Merilyn Hibma said that exactly how HPV16 suppressed the body's immune responses had been a matter of debate.
"Our new findings show that E7, in the absence of other HPV16 proteins, is sufficient enough to cause a range of effects on specialized cells normally involved in priming the body's T-cells to combat viral infection," Hibma said in the statement.
Further teasing out the mechanisms behind the failure of T-cells to be primed to attack the virus might allow new therapies that enabled the body to fight off a persistent HPV infection.
"This knowledge also helps us to understand how cancer cells avoid being detected by the immune system as E7 is also produced by cervical cancer cells," she said.
"From this we may be able to identify new ways to block cancer suppression of the immune response."
Around 1,550 women are diagnosed with high-grade pre-malignant cervical cancer in New Zealand each year, and globally around half a million women are diagnosed with cervical cancer.
In countries without organised screening programs, cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer mortality in women.
