The Discovery and Mechanism of HPV in Cervical Cancer

Key Insight

In 1984, Harald zur Hausen discovered Human Papilloma Virus 18 (HPV-18), following HPV-16 a year prior, believing these sexually transmitted viruses caused cervical cancer. Henrietta's HeLa cells tested positive for HPV-18, and a sample of her original biopsy confirmed multiple copies of this highly virulent strain. Out of over one hundred HPV strains, thirteen cause various cancers including cervical, anal, oral, and penile cancer, with approximately 90 percent of sexually active adults becoming infected with at least one strain during their lifetime.

Scientists determined that HPV causes cancer by inserting its DNA into the host cell's DNA, subsequently producing proteins that lead to cancerous growth. Crucially, when HPV DNA was blocked, cervical cancer cells ceased to be cancerous. These fundamental discoveries were pivotal in the development of an HPV vaccine, a breakthrough that ultimately earned zur Hausen a Nobel Prize.

Specifically regarding Henrietta's cancer, HPV inserted its DNA into the long arm of her eleventh chromosome, effectively deactivating her P53 tumor suppressor gene, thereby initiating the cancer. However, what scientists still have not fully elucidated is why this particular infection resulted in such monstrously virulent cells both within and outside Henrietta's body, especially given that cervical cancer cells are typically among the most challenging to culture. Howard Jones, who first identified Henrietta's tumor, remembered it as 'unlike anything I’ve ever seen.'