Table 1.
Human cancer viruses.
| Virus | Year of Discovery |
Disease associated with primary infection |
Acknowledged associated human cancers |
Suspected associated human cancers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Epstein Barr virus (EBV, human herpesvirus 4 [HHV-4]) | 1965 | Asymptomatic infection, Infectious mononucleosis | Burkitt’s lymphoma, Nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, immunosuppression-related non-Hodgkin lymphoma, extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma | Gastric carcinoma, lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma, leiomyosarcomas |
| Hepatitis B virus (HBV) | 1967–8 | Asymptomatic, acute hepatitis, long-term chronic infection of the liver | Hepatocellular carcinoma | Cholangiocarcinoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma |
| Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1(HTLV-1), | 1980 | Adult T-cell leukemia and lymphoma | ||
| Human papillomavirus (HPV) (high-risk types) | 1983 | Carcinoma of the cervix, vulva, vagina, penis, anus, oral cavity, and oropharynx and tonsil | Cancer of the larynx, and some head and neck cancers | |
| Hepatitis C virus (HCV) | 1989 | Asymptomatic, acute hepatitis | Hepatocellular carcinoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma | Cholangiocarcinoma |
| Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV, human herpesvirus 8 [HHV-8]) | 1994 | Kaposi’s sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma | multicentric Castleman’s disease | |
| *Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) | 2008 | Merkel cell carcinoma |
*
Further evidence required for unquestionable inclusion as an etiologic agent of cancer.