HPV integration: Moving from carcinogenesis mechanisms to clinical applications
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-Dec-2025 10:11 ET (21-Dec-2025 15:11 GMT/UTC)
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the primary cause of virus-associated cancers, especially cervical and head and neck cancers. A key mechanism involves the integration of HPV DNA into the host genome. To support the WHO's strategy to eliminate cervical cancer, understanding HPV integration is crucial. This summary highlights current insights into the mechanisms of HPV integration, their clinical implications, and emerging therapeutic strategies aimed at enhancing precision oncology for HPV-related cancers.
The tumor microenvironment (TME) is a complex and dynamic ecosystem that plays a pivotal role in cancer progression and therapy resistance. Its heterogeneity and constant remodeling present significant challenges for effective treatment. The emergence of nanomedicine integrates nanotechnology and medicine, aiming to overcome and ameliorate the limitations of conventional therapeutic agents in cancer treatment. Despite the broad biomedical applications of nanomaterials, the clinical translation of nanodrugs remains hindered by the complexity and heterogeneity of the TME as well as challenges related to the physicochemical properties of nanomaterials. This paper published in iMetaMed underscores key challenges and difficulties currently faced by nanomaterials in cancer treatment, including: issues related to nanomaterial biosafety and long-term toxicity assessment; uncertainties in vivo biotransformation and metabolic pathways; therapeutic efficacy variations caused by spatiotemporal heterogeneity of the TME; barriers from laboratory research to clinical translation; and insufficient selectivity in the precise modulation of TME components.
Researchers in Berlin have used base editing to repair mutations that cause the kidney disorder ADPKD in cells from both mice and humans. In mice, a team led by Michael Kaminski was able to ease a key symptom of the difficult-to-treat disease. The research was published in “Molecular Therapy.”