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. 2024 May 22;16(11):1970.
doi: 10.3390/cancers16111970.

Cellular Transformation by Human Cytomegalovirus

Georges Herbein  1   2
Affiliations

Cellular Transformation by Human Cytomegalovirus

Georges Herbein. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Kaposi sarcoma human virus (KSHV), human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV, HCV), human T-lymphotropic virus-1 (HTLV-1), and Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) are the seven human oncoviruses reported so far. While traditionally viewed as a benign virus causing mild symptoms in healthy individuals, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) has been recently implicated in the pathogenesis of various cancers, spanning a wide range of tissue types and malignancies. This perspective article defines the biological criteria that characterize the oncogenic role of HCMV and based on new findings underlines a critical role for HCMV in cellular transformation and modeling the tumor microenvironment as already reported for the other human oncoviruses.

Keywords: HCMV; PGCCs; cytomegalovirus; hallmarks of cancer; high-risk HCMV; oncogenesis; oncomodulation; oncoviruses.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
HCMV (high-risk strains) fulfills all the hallmarks of cancer described by Hanahan in 2022 [8].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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