[Virus and human oncogenesis].

Only a limited number of human viruses have been shown to have oncogenic properties, including the retrovirus HTLV1 and 2, the hepatitis B virus (HBV), the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and some human papillomas virus (HPV). Epidemiologic and molecular biological studies have shown that these viruses were involved as cofactors in the multistep process of carcinogenesis. Viral DNA probes or antibodies against viral proteins can prove to be useful tools for diagnostic (HTLV1, EBV, HBV) or prognosis (HPV) of some cancers. A better knowledge of these viruses may also have therapeutic implications in a not too distant future such as the vaccination against HBV in order minimize the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in endemic countries.