Is human cytomegalovirus a target in cancer therapy?

John Inge Johnsen 1 , Ninib Baryawno 1 and Cecilia Söderberg-Nauclér 2 1 Childhood Cancer Research Unit, Department of Women´s and Children´s Health, Karolinska Institute, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden 2 Karolinska Institute, Department of Medicine, Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital in Solna, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden Received: December 12, 2011; Accepted: December 15, 2011; Published: December 31, 2011; Keywords: cancer, human cytomegalovirus Correspondence: John Inge Johnsen, email: // // Abstract Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a herpesvirus that is prevalent in the human population. HCMV has recently been implicated in different cancer forms where it may provide mechanisms for oncogenic transformation, oncomodulation and tumour cell immune evasion. Moreover, antiviral treatment against HCMV has been shown to inhibit tumour growth in preclinical models. Here we describe the possible involvement of HCMV in cancer and discuss the potential molecular impact expression of HCMV proteins have on tumour cells and the surrounding tumour microenvironment.