Posted on 06/21/2005 3:53:57 PM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
A common virus that is harmless to people can destroy cancerous cells in the body and might be developed into a new cancer therapy, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
The virus, called adeno-associated virus type 2, or AAV-2, infects an estimated 80 percent of the population.
"Our results suggest that adeno-associated virus type 2, which infects the majority of the population but has no known ill effects, kills multiple types of cancer cells yet has no effect on healthy cells," said Craig Meyers, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the Penn State College of Medicine in Pennsylvania.
"We believe that AAV-2 recognizes that the cancer cells are abnormal and destroys them. This suggests that AAV-2 has great potential to be developed as an anti-cancer agent," Meyers said in a statement.
He said at a meeting of the American Society for Virology that studies have shown women infected with AAV-2 who are also infected with a cancer-causing wart virus called HPV develop cervical cancer less frequently than uninfected women do.
AAV-2 is a small virus that cannot replicate itself without the help of another virus. But with the help of a second virus it kills cells.
For their study, Meyers and colleagues first infected a batch of human cells with HPV, some strains of which cause cervical cancer.
They then infected these cells and normal cells with AAV-2.
After six days, all the HPV-infected cells died.
The same thing happened with cervical, breast, prostate and squamous cell tumor cells.
All are cancers of the epithelial cells, which include skin cells and other cells that line the insides and outsides of organs.
"One of the most compelling findings is that AAV-2 appears to have no pathologic effects on healthy cells," Meyers said.
"So many cancer therapies are as poisonous to healthy cells as they are to cancer cells. A therapy that is able to distinguish between healthy and cancer cells could be less difficult to endure for those with cancer."
AAV-2 is being studied intensively as a gene therapy vector -- a virus modified to carry disease-correcting genes into the body. Gene therapy researchers favor it because it does not seem to cause disease or immune system reaction on its own.
Wow!
Fantastic.
So where can I get some of this stuff? Does it come in tablet or gelcaps?
Well, well...BTT...
Thanks for posting, this is a fascinating article.
BTT
There are two types of cancer reasearch articles.
One is a request for research dollars, and so is the other.
It's all fun and games until the virus mutates.
Bad news- you can only get it from toilet seats in public restrooms.
Using a bullet to kill a bullet...
4-1 you already have it.
Amazing news!
So is it the 20 percent that have never been exposed to the virus more prone to cancer?
That means I've GOT it!
This is good news. Hopefully, if the study passes phase3 with a high percentage of success it will be approved ASAP.
Frankly I'd rather see private, state and Federal research dollars go for programs like this than research projects to save endangered species of something like the snail darter or new building projects to be named after some congress critter.
You want private research for other reasons which I will not list if you were being sarcastic.
Saving lives of humans has a higher priority in my book than an endangered animal species or building another presidential library or new office building for GSA to lease out or a congress critter to have named after himself.
I have a personal interest in this and I am biased in my opinion as I have lung cancer stage 3 and I am constantly looking for anything new. Actually, I obtained a copy of this report from MyWay at 4:21 PM 6/21. Yours is a good post. Sorry I was not more specific.
Thank you Infant of Prague.
This could be very good news. Thanks for posting it!
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