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Cited by 100Chromosomal and Genetic VariationsImmunotherapy and Immune ResponsesViral-associated cancers and disorders

Human endogenous retroviruses and cancer

Open access
María, Gonzalez-Cao, Paola, Iduma, Niki, Karachaliou, Mariacarmela, Santarpia, Julià, Blanco, Rafael, Rosell·2016·Cancer Biology & Medicine
DOI 10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2016.0080PMC PMC5250606
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Abstract

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are retroviruses that infected human genome millions of years ago and have persisted throughout human evolution. About 8% of our genome is composed of HERVs, most of which are nonfunctional because of epigenetic control or deactivating mutations. However, a correlation between HERVs and human cancer has been described and many tumors, such as melanoma, breast cancer, germ cell tumors, renal cancer or ovarian cancer, express HERV proteins, mainly HERV-K (HML6) and HERV-K (HML2). Although the causative role of HERVs in cancer is controversial, data from animal models demonstrated that endogenous retroviruses are potentially oncogenic. HERV protein expression in human cells generates an immune response by activating innate and adaptive immunities. Some HERV-derived peptides have antigenic properties. For example, HERV-K (HML-6) encodes the HER-K MEL peptide recognized by CD8+ lymphocytes. In addition, HERVs are two-edged immunomodulators. HERVs show immunosuppressive activity. The presence of genomic retroviral elements in host-cell cytosol may activate an interferon type I response. Therefore, targeting HERVs through cellular vaccines or immunomodulatory drugs combined with checkpoint inhibitors is attracting interest because they could be active in human tumors.

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  • Elevated HERV-K transcripts are associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and many human cancers.

    “Elevated HERV-K transcripts are associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)8 and many human cancers, including melanoma, breast cancer, germ cell tumors, renal cancer, and ovarian cancer42”

    From Pathogenic tau-induced piRNA depletion promotes neuronal death through transposable element dysregulation in neurodegenerative tauopathies (2018) · cites this paper as [42]

    Citation 42 is attached to the cancer examples, while ALS has a separate citation. In “Expression of HERVs in cancer cells” (page unavailable), the paper reports elevated HERV-K-containing mRNA in breast cancer patients and HERV-K protein in several cancers, but it does not establish elevated HERV-K transcripts across all the listed cancers; the renal-cancer transcripts it identifies are HERV-E. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Research works printed but not linked: 52

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
María, G.-C., Paola, I., Niki, K., Mariacarmela, S., Julià, B., & Rafael, R.
Affiliations
  • Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol (ES)
  • Instituto Oncológico Dr. Rosell (ES)
Venue
Cancer Biology & Medicine
Publisher
China Anti-cancer Association
Published
2016
Volume
13
Issue
4
Pages
483
ISSN
2095-3941 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2016.0080
PMC
PMC5250606
OpenAlex
W2560865719
Cited by
100
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 9
FWCI
13.66
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Cancer Biology and Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Chromosomal and Genetic Variations
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immunotherapy and Immune Responses
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Viral-associated cancers and disorders
Keywords
human endogenous retroviruses, HERV-K, HERV-K(HML-2), oncogenic retroviruses, tumor antigens, CD8+ T cell responses, immunosuppression, cancer immunotherapy, cellular vaccine, immune checkpoint inhibitors, melanoma, breast cancer, germ cell tumors, kidney cancer, ovarian cancer

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