The role of lipids and lipids lowering drugs in human papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV-associated cancers

Sep 23, 2026

The review addresses how lipid metabolism is central to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and to cancers associated with HPV. High-risk HPV drives many HPV-related malignancies, with substantial global cancer burden, including cervical cancer. Cancer cells reprogram lipid metabolism to support energy production, membrane synthesis, and signaling for invasion, metastasis, proliferation, and survival. HPV proteins can stimulate lipid production, and lipids also contribute to EMT and therapy resistance, suggesting lipid-lowering strategies as potential therapeutic targets.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

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Pages17

Reading Time43 min

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Shabani etal. Infectious Agents and Cancer (2025) 20:4 [https://doi.org/10.1186/s13027-025-00635-5](https://doi.org/10.1186/s13027-025-00635-5) Infectious Agents and Cancer REVIEW Open Access The role of lipids and lipids lowering drugs in human papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV-associated cancers Ehsan Shabani1, Aida Hasanzadi2, Omer Qutaiba B. Allela3, Radhwan Abdul Kareem4, Riyad E. Abed5, Ali M. Ali Al-Nuaimi6, Zainab H. Athab7 and Shiva Khodarahmi8* Abstract Both women and men are now confronted with the grave threat of cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) . It is estimated that 80% of women may encounter HPV over their lives. In the preponderance of cases involving anal, head and neck, oral, oropharyngeal, penile, vaginal, vulvar, and cervical malignancies, high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) is the causative agent. In 2019, HPV is believed to have been the cause of 620,000 new cases of cancer in women and 70,000 new cases of cancer in men worldwide. The bulk of the 530,000 cervical cancer cases (~ 270,000 fatalities) caused by HPV infection (86% of cases, 88% of deaths) happen in poor nations each year. Lipid metabolism is crucial in HPV infection and cancer development related to HPV. One of the most noticeable metabolic abnormalities in cancer is lipid metabolism reprogramming, in which cancer cells dysregulate lipid metabolism to obtain sufficient energy, building blocks for cell membranes, and signaling molecules necessary for invasion, metastasis, proliferation, and survival. Moreover, HPV proteins’ stimulation of lipid production in infected cells will probably have a significant effect on oncogenesis. In addition, lipids are critical in producing cellular energy, the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process, and therapy resistance of HPV-related cancers (HRCs) . Therefore, lipids are essential in HPV infection and HRC development and may also be an important target for new approaches associated with treatments during HPV infection or cancer development. This review study looked at the role of lipids and lipid-lowering drugs in HPV and related cancers. Keywords Human papillomavirus (HPV), HPV-related cancers, Lipid metabolism, Cholesterol, Lipid-lowering drugs *Correspondence: Shiva Khodarahmi [education_ever@yahoo.com](education_ever@yahoo.com) Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s) 2025, corrected publication 2025. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)[.](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.) Shabani etal. Infectious Agents and Cancer (2025) 20:4 Page 2 of 17 Graphical Abstract Shabani etal. Infectious Agents and Cancer (2025) 20:4 Introduction The human papillomavirus (HPV) is a common sexually transmitted infection that is usually acquired shortly after the first sexual encounter. Globally, the estimated and adjusted HPV prevalence in women without cervical alterations is now 7.2% and 11.7%, re

FAQs

What is the main focus of the review?

The review examines the role of lipids and lipid-lowering drugs in HPV infection and in HPV-associated cancers.

Why are lipids important in HPV-related cancer development?

Lipid metabolism is reprogrammed in cancer cells to provide energy, membrane building blocks, and signaling molecules needed for tumor progression and survival.

How might lipid-lowering drugs be relevant to HPV-associated cancers?

Because lipids influence key processes such as energy production, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and therapy resistance, targeting lipid pathways may support new treatment approaches.

Sep 23, 2026

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