Exploring the Causes of the Low Incidence of Cervical Cancer in Western Asia

Abstract

Anecdotal epidemiologic observations can provide valuable tools to study various biologic elements in complex<br />diseases such as cancer. Although cervical cancer is one of the most frequent malignancy affecting women in the world,<br />it displays wide geographical variations remnant of socioeconomic, ethnic and genetic predisposing factors. The observed<br />low incidence of cervical cancer in western Asia has triggered scientists to try to delineate the causes of this reduced<br />occurrence. Although this region including Saudi Arabia is known for being conservative societies with low incidence of<br />sexually transmitted infections including human papillomavirus (HPV) and associated cervical cancer, scientific<br />research points out multifaceted biological explanations including host genetic variations. Researchers observed that<br />a protective genetic variant TP53 codon 72 proline allele was more commonly found in this population and appear to<br />be over-transmitted compared to others known for their high rate of cervical cancer. Thus, the combination of relative<br />low rate of HPV infection, over-transmission of protective genetic variant along with societal variables are the rationale<br />behind the low incidence of cervical cancer in women in the region of western Asia. The influence of the genetic<br />makeup of the patients has impact on personalized preventive medicine to gauge the risk of developing cervical cancer.