[Role of immune alterations induced by papillomavirus in development of cervical cancer ].

Squamous cell cancer of the uterine cervix is associated with a high morbidity and mortality worldwide and in Belgium. The link between cervical cancer and HPV has generated, in recent years, a great interest for studies aiming to better understand the role of the immune system in the control of these infections and for the development of prophylactic anti-HPV vaccines. The purpose of this work was to analyse the immune co-factors implicated in the promotion of the neoplastic process. We have shown that both virus-induced immune alterations and squamous metaplasia in the transformation zone of the uterine cervix play a role to create an immunotolerogenic microenvironment during the cervical carcinogenesis.