Objetividad en la epistemologia

DOI:10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-08-0571

Infectious Agents and Colorectal Cancer: A Review of
Helicobacter pylori, Streptococcus bovis, JC Virus, and
Human Papillomavirus
Andrea N. Burnett-Hartman, Polly A. Newcomb and John D. Potter
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17:2970-2979. Published online November 6, 2008.

Updated Version

Cited Articles
Citing Articles

E-mail alertsReprints and
Subscriptions
Permissions

Access the most recent version of this article at:
doi:10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-08-0571

This article cites 140 articles, 44 of which you can access for free at:
http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/17/11/2970.full.html#ref-list-1
This article has been cited by 3 HighWire-hosted articles. Access the articles at:http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/17/11/2970.full.html#related-urls

Sign up to receive free email-alerts related to this article or journal.
To order reprints of this article or to subscribe to the journal, contact the AACR
Publications Department at pubs@aacr.org.
To request permission to re-use all or part of this article, contact the AACR Publications
Department at permissions@aacr.org.

Downloaded from cebp.aacrjournals.orgon March 7, 2012
Copyright © 2008 American Association for Cancer Research

DOI:10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-08-0571
2970

Review

Infectious Agents and Colorectal Cancer: A Review of
Helicobacter pylori, Streptococcus bovis , JC Virus,
and Human Papillomavirus
Andrea N. Burnett-Hartman,1,2 Polly A. Newcomb,2 and John D. Potter2
1
2

Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health andCommunity Medicine, University of Washington;
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington

Abstract
Based on the high volume of bacteria and viruses that
the intestine is exposed to and the importance of
infectious agents in some gastrointestinal and anogenital cancers, it is not surprising the many studies have
evaluated the association between colorectal cancer andinfectious agents. This review highlights investigations
of four agents in relation to colorectal cancer. Helico-

bacter pylori, Streptococcus bovis , JC virus, and human
papillomavirus have all been evaluated as possible
etiologic agents for colorectal cancer. For each of these
agents, a review of possible mechanisms for carcinogenesis and epidemiologic evidence is discussed, and
futuredirections for research are proposed. (Cancer
Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(11):2970 – 9)

Introduction
Since the 1980s, there has been a dramatic increase in
research on infections and cancer. In 2002, it was
reported that infectious agents accounted for f18% of
all cancers worldwide (1). This estimate is based on
the burden of disease associated with cancers that have
known infectiousetiologies, such as cervical, liver, and
gastric cancers. However, as the technology to detect
infectious agents improves and more studies are conducted, future research may reveal new associations
between cancer and infection, and the proportion of
cancers attributable to infection may rise. Furthermore,
linking cancers to specific infectious agents may provide
new avenues for effective cancerprevention, in particular
vaccination.
In 2002, there were f1 million new cases of colorectal
cancer worldwide, accounting for 9.4% of all cancer (2).
Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer
among men and third most common among women
worldwide (2); nonetheless, much is still uncertain about
its etiology. It is established that colorectal cancer has a
strong association withcertain hereditary gene mutations, but only 3% to 5% of colorectal cancers are due to
these known mutations alone (3). Cigarette smoking,
high alcohol consumption, low vegetable intake, obesity,
and physical inactivity are associated with an increased
risk of colorectal cancer; postmenopausal hormone use,
nonsteroidal inflammatory drug use, and high calcium
intake are associated with a...