Role of Oxidative Stress in Human Papillomavirus-Driven Cervical Carcinogenesis

Uteri cervix carcinoma is the second most diffuse tumor among women worldwide. The initiating event of cervical cancer is the infection with certain types of Human Papillomavirus (HPV). However, viral oncogenes expression is not per se sufficient to induce cervical cancer and other factors are needed to drive the neoplastic progression. Because only a small fraction of HPV infected patients develop cervical cancer, these additional factors are likely to be important determinants of the disease risk. Oxidative stress represents an interesting and underexplored candidate as a promoting factor in HPV-initiated carcinogenesis. This chapter discusses the current results, obtained from studies performed on human tissue specimen, body fluids, and cell culture models, that support the role of oxidative stress in the development of cervical cancer.