Virtually all cases of cervical cancer result from infections caused by high-risk human papillomaviruses (hrHPV). In almost all advanced cervical tumors, hrHPV DNA is integrated into the human genome and contributes to the cancer process. However, precisely how hrHPV integration drives tumor cells to multiply is not well understood.

Anne Van Arsdale, M.D., has received a five-year, $1.3 million National Institutes of Health grant to determine the molecular steps that lead to tumor formation after hrHPV has infected and integrated in cervical epithelial cells. Using both patient samples and cell cultures, she and her colleagues will investigate that sequence of steps and the sites within the genome where hrHPV DNA incorporates. Findings from this research could lead to new therapies for both hrHPV infection and cervical cancer.

Dr. Van Arsdale is an associate professor of obstetrics & gynecology and women’s health and of genetics at Einstein and is an attending physician at Montefiore Health System. (1K08CA273527-01)