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Parasite-Associated Cancers (Blood Flukes/Liver Flukes)

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Infectious Agents Associated Cancers: Epidemiology and Molecular Biology

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1018))

Abstract

Parasitic infection remains as a persistent public health problem and can be carcinogenic. Three helminth parasites, namely, Clonorchis sinensis (liver fluke) and Opisthorchis viverrini as well as Schistosoma haematobium (blood fluke), are classified as Group 1 carcinogens by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC Infection with liver flukes (Opisthorchis viverrini, Opisthorchis felineus and Clonorchis sinensis), World Health Organization, International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2011). Infection by these parasites is frequently asymptomatic and is thus rarely diagnosed at early exposure. Persistent infection can cause severe cancer complications. Until now, the cellular and molecular mechanisms linking fluke infections to cancer formation have yet to be defined, although many studies have focused on these mechanisms in recent years, and numerous findings were made in various aspects of parasite-associated cancers. Herein, we only introduce the fluke-induced cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) and bladder carcinoma and mainly focus on key findings in the last 5 years.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    Meng Feng & Xunjia Cheng

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  1. Meng Feng
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  2. Xunjia Cheng
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Correspondence to Xunjia Cheng .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (Ministries of Education and Health), School of Basic Medical Science Fudan University, Shanghai, China

    Qiliang Cai

  2. Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (Ministries of Education and Health), School of Basic Medical Science Fudan University, Shanghai, China

    Zhenghong Yuan

  3. State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Ke Lan

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Feng, M., Cheng, X. (2017). Parasite-Associated Cancers (Blood Flukes/Liver Flukes). In: Cai, Q., Yuan, Z., Lan, K. (eds) Infectious Agents Associated Cancers: Epidemiology and Molecular Biology. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1018. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5765-6_12

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