Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disorder that usually requires long-term therapy. Serum and affected tissue levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) are elevated in patients with psoriasis compared with levels in uninvolved skin of patients with psoriasis and in healthy individuals, suggesting that TNF plays an important role in the pathogenesis of the disease.¹

Oncoviruses are implicated in approximately 12% of all human cancers. A large number of the world’s population harbors at least one of these oncoviruses, but only a small proportion of these individuals go on to develop cancer. The interplay between host and viral factors is a complex process that works together to create a microenvironment conducive to oncogenesis. In this review, the molecular biology and oncogenic pathways of established human oncoviruses will be discussed. Currently, there are seven recognized human oncoviruses, which include Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV and HCV), Human T-cell lymphotropic virus-1 (HTLV-1), Human Herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8), and Merkel Cell Polyomavirus (MCPyV). Available and emerging therapies for these oncoviruses will be mentioned.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the most common sexually transmitted disease worldwide and can result in pre-malignancies or overt malignancies of the skin and mucosal surfaces. HPV-related illnesses are an important personal and public health problem causing physical, mental, sexual and financial detriments. Moreover, this set of malignancies severely affects the immunosuppressed population, particularly HIV-positive patients and organ-transplant recipients. There is growing incidence of HPV-associated anogenital malignancies as well as a decrease in the average age of affected patients, likely related to the rising number of high-risk individuals. Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common type of HPV-related malignancy. Current treatment options for HPV infection and subsequent disease manifestations include imiquimod, retinoids, intralesional bleomycin, and cidofovir; however, primary prevention with HPV vaccination remains the most effective strategy. This review will discuss anogenital lesions in immunocompromised patients, cutaneous warts at nongenital sites, the association of HPV with skin cancer in immunocompromised patients, warts and carcinomas in organ-transplant patients, HIV-positive patients with HPV infections, and the management of cutaneous disease in the immunocompromised patient.

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is one of the most common cancers in men and women worldwide, with more than 700 000 newly diagnosed cases yearly in the United States alone, compared with less than 15 000 newly diagnosed cases yearly of cervical cancer.^1,2 The annual incidence of cSCC has increased at an alarming rate in the last 3 decades, with around 8000 attributable deaths yearly, twice the death rate from invasive cervical cancer. Furthermore, the estimated annual cost of treating cSCC cases in the United States is about $3.8 billion. This highlights the important public health burden that cSCC places on our health care system.^3,4 Therefore, a deeper understanding of cSCC’s risk factors should help us to develop more effective preventive measures, in turn decreasing the number of newly diagnosed cases and the financial burden.

Since the discovery of the causal association between human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer, efforts to develop an effective prophylactic vaccine to prevent high-risk HPV infections have been at the forefront of modern medical research. HPV causes 530,000 cervical cancer cases worldwide, which is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in women; a worldwide collaboration among epidemiologists, molecular biologists, vaccinologists, virologists, and clinicians helped lead to the development of two highly effective prophylactive HPV vaccines. The first, Gardasil, is a quadrivalent vaccine made up of recombinant HPV L1 capsid proteins from the two high-risk HPV types (16/18) responsible for 70% of cervical cancer cases as well as two low-risk HPV types (6/11) which are the causative agent for genital warts. The second, Cervarix, is a bivalent vaccine that was FDA approved three years after Gardasil and is also composed of L1 capsid proteins from HPV types 16/18. This review article focuses on the safety and efficacy data of both FDA-approved vaccines, as well as highlighting a few advances in future HPV vaccines that show promise in becoming additional treatment options for this worldwide disease.