Background: Worldwide, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women. High-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) play a crucial role in the etiology of cervical cancer and the most prevalent genotype is HPV16. HPV 16 intratypic variants have been reported to differ in their prevalence, biological and biochemical properties. The present study was designed to analyze and identify HPV type 16 E6 variants among patients with cervical cancer in Morocco. Methods: A total of 103 HPV16 positive samples were isolated from 129 cervical cancer cases, and variant status was subsequently determined by DNA sequencing of the E6 gene. Results: Isolates from patients were grouped into the European (E), African (Af) and North-American (NA1) phylogenetic clusters with a high prevalence of E lineage (58.3%). The Af and NA1 variants were detected in 31.1% and 11.6% of the HPV16 positive specimens, respectively, whereas, only 3% of cases were prototype E350T. No European-Asian (EA), Asian (As) or Asian-American (AA) variants were observed in our HPV16-positive specimens. At the amino acid level, the most prevalent non-synonymous variants were L83V (T350G), H78Y (C335T), E113D (A442C), Q14D (C143G/G145T) and R10I (G132T), and were observed respectively in 65%, 41.8%, 38.8%, 30.1% and 23.3% of total samples. Moreover, HPV16 European variants were mostly identified in younger women at early clinical diagnosis stages. Whereas, HPV16 Af variants were most likely associated with cervical cancer development in older women with pronounced aggressiveness. Conclusion: This study suggests a predominance of E lineage strains among Moroccan HPV 16 isolates and raises the possibility that HPV16 variants have a preferential role in progression to malignancy and could be associated with the more aggressive nature of cervical cancer.

Limited national information is available in Morocco on the prevalence and distribution of HPV-sub-types of cervical cancer and the role of other risk factors. The aim was to determine the frequency of HPV-sub-types of cervical cancer in Morocco and investigate risk factors for this disease. Between November 2009 and April 2012 a multicentre case-control study was carried out. A total of 144 cases of cervical cancer and 288 age-matched controls were included. Odds-ratios and corresponding confidence-intervals were computed by conditional logistic regression models. Current HPV infection was detected in 92.5% of cases and 13.9% of controls. HPV16 was the most common type for both cases and controls. Very strong associations between HPV-sub-types and cervical cancer were observed: total-HPV (OR = 39), HPV16 (OR = 49), HPV18 (OR = 31), and multiple infections (OR = 13). Education, high parity, sexual intercourse during menstruation, history of sexually transmitted infections, and husband’s multiple sexual partners were also significantly associated with cervical cancer in the multivariate analysis. Our results could be used to establish a primary prevention program and to prioritize limited screening to women who have specific characteristics that may put them at an increased risk of cervical cancer.

Background: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignant tumor which arises in surface epithelium of the posterior wall of the nasopharynx. There's is evidence that Epstein Barr virus (EBV) is associated to NPC development. However, many epidemiologic studies point to a connection between viral infections by the human papillomavirus (HPV) and NPC. Method: Seventy Moroccan patients with NPC were screened for EBV and HPV. EBV detection was performed by PCR amplification of BZLF1 gene, encoding the ZEBRA (Z Epstein-Barr Virus Replication Activator) protein, and HPV infection was screened by PCR amplification with subsequent typing by hybridization with specific oligonucleotides for HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 45 and 59. Results: The age distribution of our patients revealed a bimodal pattern. Sixty two cases (88.9%) were classified as type 3 (undifferentiated carcinoma), 6 (8.6%) as type 2 (non keratinizing NPC) and only 2 (2.9%) cases were classified as type 1 (keratinizing NPC). EBV was detected in all NPC tumors, whereas HPV DNA was revealed in 34% of cases (24/70). Molecular analysis showed that 20.8% (5/24) were infected with HPV31, and the remaining were infected with other oncogenic types (i.e., HPV59, 16, 18, 33, 35 and 45). In addition, statistical analysis showed that there's no association between sex or age and HPV infection (P > 0.1). Conclusion: Our data indicated that EBV is commonly associated with NPC in Moroccan patients and show for the first time that NPC tumours from Moroccan patients harbour high risk HPV genotypes.

Due to recent technical improvements and some encouraging new results, there has been a resurgence of interest in the possibility that a substantial proportion of breast cancers (BCs) may be caused by viral infections, including Human papillomavirus (HPV). The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of mucosal and cutaneous HPV in tumours from Moroccan BC patients. Frozen tumours from 76 BC cases and 12 controls were evaluated for the presence of 62 HPV-types using highly sensitive assays that combine multiplex polymerase chain reaction and bead-based Luminex technology. HPV DNA was found in 25.0% of BC tumours and only 8.3% of controls. Beta and gamma HPV types were found in 10.5% and 6.6% of BC tumours, respectively. High-risk mucosal types HPV16 and 18 were not detected in the subjects, but other probable/possible high-risk or high-risk -HPV types (HPV51, 52, 58, 59, and 66) were found in 5.3% of BC tumours. Statistical analysis showed no significant difference between, controls, BC cases and the inflammatory status (p > 0.05). HPV DNA was found 3 times as frequently in the BC tumours as in the controls. However, this difference requires confirmation in a larger sample.

The mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) like sequences have been reported to be present in some human breast cancers, but their association with breast cancer development is still controversial. In this retrospective study, we investigated the status of MMTV-like in 42 tumor biopsies and 18 paired normal tissues from Moroccan patients with breast cancer. MMTV-like env sequences were identified by PCR and confirmed by direct DNA sequencing. Specific MMTV-like env sequences were found in 24 (57.14%) cases of breast carcinomas, and 6 (33.3%) cases of matched normal breast tissues. Comparison to sociologic and clinicopathological parameters showed no significant association between the presence of MMTV-like sequences and age, menopausal status, histological subtype, histological grade, tumor size and the expression of hormone receptors (estrogen ER and/or progesterone PgR) and Her 2. However, a significant correlation was found between MMTV-like presence and parity (p = 0.024). This present study confirms the presence of MMTV-like env sequences in breast cancer in Moroccan women, prompting further evaluation, on large sampling, to elucidate the probable causal roles of MMTV-like in breast cancer development.

Cancer is typically classified as a leading non-communicable disease; however, infectious agents, such as Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human papilloma virus (HPV), contribute significantly to the pathogenesis of various cancers. Less developed countries, including countries of the North African (NA) region, endure the highest burden of infection-related cancers. The five most common infection-associated cancers in NA in order of incidence are bladder cancer, cervical cancer, liver cancer, stomach cancer, and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. This review aims to outline the epidemiologic pattern of infection-associated cancers in five NA countries (namely: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt) highlighting the similarities and differences across the region. The present study employed an initial literature review of peer-reviewed articles selected from PubMed, ScienceDirect and World Health Organization (WHO) databases based on key word searches without restriction on publication dates. Original research articles and reports written in French, as well as data from institutional reports and regional meeting abstracts were also included in this extensive review. Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco were selected to be the focus of this review.