Highly Accessed Minireview

Infectious causes of cancer and their detection

Lucy Dalton-Griffin1 and Paul Kellam1,2*

Author affiliations

1 Department of Infection, University College London, Cleveland Street, London W1T 4JF, UK

2 The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, The Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK

For all author emails, please log on.

Citation and License

Journal of Biology 2009, 8:67 doi:10.1186/jbiol168

Published: 11 August 2009

Abstract

Molecular techniques for identifying pathogens associated with cancer continue to be developed, including one reported recently in BMC Medical Genomics. Identifying a causal infectious agent helps in understanding the biology of these cancers and can lead ultimately to the development of antimicrobial drugs and vaccines for their treatment and prevention.