Overview
Background
Associate Professor Annika Antonsson is a virologist with epidemiological training. Viruses can cause cancer, and Annika’s research has been focused on human papillomavirus (HPV) and its role in different types of cancer. HPV is the virus that causes cervical cancer.
Her current main research areas are oral HPV infections in the general population and HPV in mouth and throat cancer (mucosal squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck; HNSCC).
Some cancers of the mouth and throat are increasing and some of this increase is caused by HPV infection. HPV is a sexually transmitted infection and changing sexual behaviour is believed to have caused the increase in HPV-positive tumours of the mouth and throat. Annika is investigating how often HPV in found in HNSCCs and if there are any lifestyle factors linked with having HPV or not to have HPV in tumours.
It is not known how common the potentially cancer-causing viruses are in the mouth of the general population, and this is another area of research Annika is looking into. She has also worked on HPV in skin (normal skin and cancer), infections in breast carcinogenesis, HPV in oesophageal cancer and polyomaviruses in normal skin and skin cancer.
Availability
- Associate Professor Annika Antonsson is:
- Available for supervision
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, Institution to be confirmed
Research interests
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The Oral Diversity Study
Oral HPV infection in vaccinated and unvaccinated people
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The Oral Health Study
Oral HPV infection in the general population
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The PAH/QIMRB Head and Neck Cancer Study
Human papillomavirus infection and risk factors in head and neck cancer patients
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HPV and microRNA in oropharyngeal cancers
comparing microRNA expression in HPV positive and HPV negative oropharyngeal cancers
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CHANNEL (Care of Head And Neck cancer Needs EvaLuation Study)
a quality of life and supportive care needs study of patients with head and neck cancer
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Indigenous Oral HPV
Longitudinal study of oral HPV infection and risk factors associated with infection in Indigenous Australians
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Breast cancer microbiome
Profiling the intratumoural microbiome in breast cancer and control tissue
Research impacts
- Oral HPV infection in people vaccinated with Gardasil® and unvaccinated people. We will investigate if people who have been vaccinated against HPV have the same or different HPV types compared to unvaccinated people
- Natural history of oral HPV infection. We have been investigating how common oral HPV infection is in the general population in Australia, and if oral HPV infection is linked to lifestyle or sexual behaviours. We have also studied how often people get a new oral HPV infection (incidence) and how long oral HPV infections last for (persistence)
- HPV and head and neck cancer (cancers of mouth and throat). We have been investigating risk factors for HPV in head and neck cancer. We have looked at differences in lifestyle factors and host SNPs in patients with HPV-positive vs HPV-negative tumours and are currently looking into miRNA regulation. We have found high HPV prevalence (most commonly HPV-16), especially in younger individuals and in cancers of the tonsil
- HPV and oesophageal cancer. Very low prevalence of HPV detected in tumours, suggesting that HPV is not associated with oesophageal cancer (both cancer types squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma)
- HPV and breast cancer. The viral role of breast cancer is still under debate. In our Australian breast cancer cohort we found HPV, but very low viral load. We found low prevalences of other DNA tumour viruses in this dataset. We are currently looking for viral sequences by deep sequencing of breast cancer
- HPV in normal skin. Annika was involved in developing a new revolutionary tool that detects the majority of HPV types, the FAP (Forslund-Antonsson-Primer). The FAP has, over the years isolated most known HPVs plus hundreds of new, previously unknown skin HPVs in both humans and animals. FAP has explosively expanded the phylogenetic papillomavirus tree She has used the FAP in several publications to show the very high HPV prevalence and abundance of HPV types present in healthy skin in people of all ages across the globe
Works
Search Professor Annika Antonsson’s works on UQ eSpace
2015
Journal Article
No association between HPV positive breast cancer and expression of human papilloma viral transcripts
Gannon, Orla M., Antonsson, Annika, Milevskiy, Michael, Brown, Melissa A., Saunders, Nicholas A. and Bennett, Ian C. (2015). No association between HPV positive breast cancer and expression of human papilloma viral transcripts. Scientific Reports, 5 (18081) 18081, 18081. doi: 10.1038/srep18081
2015
Journal Article
Cancers in Australia in 2010 attributable to infectious agents
Antonsson, Annika, Wilson, Louise F., Kendall, Bradley J., Bain, Christopher J., Whiteman, David C. and Neale, Rachel E. (2015). Cancers in Australia in 2010 attributable to infectious agents. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 39 (5), 446-451. doi: 10.1111/1753-6405.12445
2015
Journal Article
Cancers in Australia in 2010 attributable to modifiable factors: summary and conclusions
Whiteman, David C., Webb, Penelope M., Green, Adele C., Neale, Rachel E., Fritschi, Lin, Bain, Christopher J., Parkin, D. Max, Wilson, Louise F., Olsen, Catherine M., Nagle, Christina M., Pandeya, Nirmala, Jordan, Susan J., Antonsson, Annika, Kendall, Bradley J., Hughes, Maria Celia B., Ibiebele, Torukiri I., Miura, Kyoko, Peters, Susan and Carey, Renee N. (2015). Cancers in Australia in 2010 attributable to modifiable factors: summary and conclusions. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 39 (5), 477-484. doi: 10.1111/1753-6405.12471
2015
Journal Article
Cancers in Australia in 2010 attributable to modifiable factors: Introduction and overview
Whiteman, David C., Webb, Penelope M., Green, Adele C., Neale, Rachel E., Fritschi, Lin, Bain, Christopher J., Parkin D. Max, Wilson, Louise F., Olsen, Catherine M., Nagle, Christina M., Pandeya, Nirmala, Jordan, Susan J., Antonsson, Annika, Kendall, Bradley J., Hughes, Maria Celia B., Ibiebele, Torukiri I., Miura, Kyoko, Peters, Susan and Carey, Renee N. (2015). Cancers in Australia in 2010 attributable to modifiable factors: Introduction and overview. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 39 (5), 403-407. doi: 10.1111/1753-6405.12468
2015
Journal Article
Human papillomavirus status and p16INK4A expression in patients with mucosal squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in Queensland, Australia
Antonsson, Annika, Neale, Rachel E., Boros, Samuel, Lampe, Guy, Coman, William B., Pryor, David I., Porceddu, Sandro V. and Whiteman, David C. (2015). Human papillomavirus status and p16INK4A expression in patients with mucosal squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in Queensland, Australia. Cancer Epidemiology, 39 (2), 174-181. doi: 10.1016/j.canep.2015.01.010
2014
Journal Article
Prevalence and risk factors for oral HPV infection in young Australians
Antonsson, Annika, Cornford, Michelle, Perry, Susan, Davis, Marcia, Dunne, Michael P. and Whiteman, David C. (2014). Prevalence and risk factors for oral HPV infection in young Australians. PLoS One, 9 (3) e91761, e91761. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091761
2013
Journal Article
Detection and typing of cutaneous human papillomavirus types - a comparison of three different methods
Antonsson, Annika, Michael, Kristina M., Pawlita, Michael, Lehmann, Mandy D. and Nindl, Ingo (2013). Detection and typing of cutaneous human papillomavirus types - a comparison of three different methods. Journal of Virological Methods, 189 (2), 305-310. doi: 10.1016/j.jviromet.2012.10.010
2013
Journal Article
Longitudinal study of seroprevalence and serostability of 34 human papillomavirus types in European organ transplant recipients
Antonsson, Annika, Waterboer, Tim, Bouwes Bavinck, Jan N., Abeni, Damiano, de Koning, Maurits, Euvrard, Sylvie, Feltkamp, Mariet C. W., Green, Adèle C., Harwood, Catherine A., Naldi, Luigi, Nindl, Ingo, Pfister, Herbert J., Proby, Charlotte M., Quint, Wim G., Stockfleth, Eggert, Weissenborn, Sönke J., Pawlita, Michael and Neale, Rachel E. (2013). Longitudinal study of seroprevalence and serostability of 34 human papillomavirus types in European organ transplant recipients. Virology, 436 (1), 91-99. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2012.10.037
2013
Journal Article
Longitudinal study of seroprevalence and serostability of the human polyomaviruses JCV and BKV in organ transplant recipients
Antonsson, Annika, Pawlita, Michael, Feltkamp, Mariet C.W., Bouwes Bavinck, Jan N., Euvrard, Sylvie, Harwood, Catherine A., Naldi, Luigi, Nindl, Ingo, Proby, Charlotte M., Neale, Rachel E. and Waterboer, Tim (2013). Longitudinal study of seroprevalence and serostability of the human polyomaviruses JCV and BKV in organ transplant recipients. Journal of Medical Virology, 85 (2), 327-335. doi: 10.1002/jmv.23472
2012
Journal Article
Exploring the Prevalence of Ten Polyomaviruses and Two Herpes Viruses in Breast Cancer
Antonsson, Annika, Bialasiewicz, Seweryn, Rockett, Rebecca J., Jacob, Kevin, Bennett, Ian C. and Sloots, Theo P. (2012). Exploring the Prevalence of Ten Polyomaviruses and Two Herpes Viruses in Breast Cancer. Plos One, 7 (8) e39842, e39842-1-e39842-4. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0039842
2012
Journal Article
Review: Antibodies to cutaneous human papillomaviruses
Antonsson, Annika (2012). Review: Antibodies to cutaneous human papillomaviruses. Journal of Medical Virology, 84 (5), 814-822. doi: 10.1002/jmv.23257
2011
Journal Article
High prevalence of human papillomaviruses in fresh frozen breast cancer samples
Antonsson, Annika, Spurr, Terrence P., Chen, Alice C., Francis, Glenn D., McMillan, Nigel A. J., Saunders, Nicholas A., Law, Michael and Bennett, Ian C. (2011). High prevalence of human papillomaviruses in fresh frozen breast cancer samples. Journal of Medical Virology, 83 (12), 2157-2163. doi: 10.1002/jmv.22223
2011
Journal Article
Human papillomavirus in benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatic adenocarcinoma patients
Chen, Alice C.-H., Waterboer, Tim, Keleher, Annie, Morrison, Beth, Jindal, Shalini, McMillan, Denise, Nicol, David, Gardiner, Robert A., McMillan, Nigel A. J. and Antonsson, Annika (2011). Human papillomavirus in benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatic adenocarcinoma patients. Pathology and Oncology Research, 17 (3), 613-617. doi: 10.1007/s12253-010-9357-4
2011
Journal Article
Prediction of conserved microRNAs from skin and mucosal human papillomaviruses
Gu, Wenyi, An, Jiyuan, Ye, Ping, Zhao, KongNan and Antonsson, Annika (2011). Prediction of conserved microRNAs from skin and mucosal human papillomaviruses. Archives of Virology, 156 (7), 1161-1171. doi: 10.1007/s00705-011-0974-3
2011
Journal Article
High-risk human papillomavirus in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma-response
Antonsson, Annika, Nancarrow, Derek J., Brown, Ian S., Green, Adele C., Drew, Paul A., Watson, David I., Hayward, Nicholas K. and Whiteman, David C. (2011). High-risk human papillomavirus in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma-response. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, 20 (2), 409-410. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-10-1287
2010
Journal Article
Prevalence and stability of antibodies to 37 human papillomavirus types: A population-based longitudinal study
Antonsson, Annika, Green, Adele C., Mallitt, Kylie-ann, O'Rourke, Peter K., Pandeya, Nirmala, Pawlita, Michael, Waterboer, Tim and Neale, Rachel E. (2010). Prevalence and stability of antibodies to 37 human papillomavirus types: A population-based longitudinal study. Virology, 407 (1), 26-32. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2010.07.046
2010
Journal Article
High-risk human papillomavirus in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Antonsson, Annika, Nancarrow, Derek J., Brown, Ian S., Green, Adele C., Drew, Paul A., Watson, David I., Hayward, Nicholas K., Whiteman, David C., For the Australian Cancer Study, Gotley, David and Smithers, B. Mark (2010). High-risk human papillomavirus in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, 19 (8), 2080-2087. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-10-0033
2010
Journal Article
Prevalence and stability of antibodies to the BK and JC polyomaviruses: a long-term longitudinal study of Australians
Antonsson, Annika, Green, Adele C., Mallitt, Kylie-Ann, O'Rourke, Peter K., Pawlita, Michael, Waterboer, Tim and Neale, Rachel E. (2010). Prevalence and stability of antibodies to the BK and JC polyomaviruses: a long-term longitudinal study of Australians. Journal of General Virology, 91 (7), 1849-1853. doi: 10.1099/vir.0.020115-0
2010
Journal Article
Low prevalence of DNA viruses in the human endometrium and endometriosis
Vestergaard, Anna L., Knudsen, Ulla B., Munk, Torben, Rosbach, Hanne, Bialasiewicz, Seweryn, Sloots, Theo P., Martensen, Pia M. and Antonsson, Annika (2010). Low prevalence of DNA viruses in the human endometrium and endometriosis. Archives of Virology, 155 (5), 695-703. doi: 10.1007/s00705-010-0643-y
2009
Journal Article
Human papillomavirus DNA detected in peripheral blood samples from healthy Australian male blood donors
Chen, Alice, Keleher, Annie, Kedda, Mary-Anne, Spurdle, Amanda, McMillan, Nigel and Antonsson, Annika (2009). Human papillomavirus DNA detected in peripheral blood samples from healthy Australian male blood donors. Journal of Medical Virology, 81 (10), 1792-1796. doi: 10.1002/jmv.21592
Funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Associate Professor Annika Antonsson is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Is indigenous status, socioeconomic indexes for areas (SEIFA) or remoteness associated with survival in head and neck cancer patients?
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Ben Panizza
Completed supervision
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2017
Master Philosophy
Evaluating cellular microRNA expression in human papillomavirus associated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Ben Panizza
Media
Enquiries
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