Common virus may improve skin cancer treatment outcomes (Cytomegalovirus)

Medical Xpress / University of Oxford / Nature Medicine ^ | April 23, 2025 | Gusztav Milotay et al

[ConservativeMind]

A new study has revealed that a common and usually harmless virus may positively influence how skin cancer patients respond to current treatments.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common virus that, while typically asymptomatic, is carried for life by around 50–60% of UK adults. In healthy individuals, CMV is kept in a dormant state by the immune system. However, this process profoundly reshapes how the immune system operates. The study explored how CMV affected the immune responses of 341 melanoma patients receiving immunotherapy, a form of cancer treatment that helps harness the immune system to recognize and fight cancer.

This research suggests that CMV infection may improve treatment outcomes in melanoma patients receiving less intensive immunotherapy, while also markedly reducing the frequency of severe side effects. The researchers also found that CMV infection potentially delays melanoma from developing and spreading, indicating that the immune response to CMV might also impact cancer development.

Key findings include:

—Better immunotherapy response: CMV-positive patients were found to have a better response to single-drug PD-1 therapy, which works by blocking the PD-1 protein to help the immune system attack cancer cells. Among patients receiving this therapy to prevent melanoma relapse, those with CMV were also less likely to experience recurrence.

—Fewer serious side effects: CMV-positive patients experienced lower rates of severe immune-related complications during treatment, most notably colitis (inflammation of the colon).

—Possible protection against metastatic melanoma (MM): People with CMV were found to develop metastatic melanoma later in life compared to those without CMV. Patients with BRAF-mutated tumors appeared to receive additional protection.

The research team found that these effects are likely due to the CMV virus stimulating a group of T cells, immune cells that are crucial in the fight against cancer.

[ConservativeMind]

Cytomegalovirus would be an easy thing to become infected with, and it helps against melanoma.

[ConservativeMind]

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