β-Papillomavirus Infection and Skin Cancer

The development of highly sensitive PCR techniques and multiplex bead-based Luminex platforms has accelerated the search for a specific role of human papilloma viruses in the development of squamous cell carcinoma. Human papillomaviruses are most likely indirectly involved in this process by facilitating UV-related carcinogenesis via preventing UV-induced apoptosis or impairing DNA repair, but other mechanisms are also possible.