Pearls collections: What we can learn about infectious disease and cancer

Although infectious agents are major contributors to cancer incidence worldwide, the importance of infectious agents in cancer causation remains relatively underappreciated by the general public and even the scientific community.In addition, mechanisms contributing to infection-related cancers and development of potential prevention and treatment approaches are arguably understudied.The development and implementation of the hepatitis B vaccine (HBV) to reduce the incidence of liver cancer and of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines to reduce the incidence of cervical and other HPV-associated cancers in both men and women has increased awareness of the importance and potential avenues for cancer prevention through infectious disease modulation, and more such examples are sure to follow."