oddcrap Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 WASHINGTON - A common virus that is harmless to people can destroy cancerous cells in the body and might be developed into a new cancer therapy, US researchers said. 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 i will 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. reuters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob2687 Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 what's an "i will effect"? :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddcrap Posted June 27, 2005 Author Share Posted June 27, 2005 what's an "i will effect"? :p 586124939[/snapback] No idea :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt11601 Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 Interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceDogg Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 I hope this can turn into a great treatment for cancer. It is what I hate most in this world! Nice read thanks for the positive news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jelly2003 Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 I've heard of this before, not with a virus, but by training your own immune system to recognise and destroy cancel cells. At the rate that things are going, it looks like it wont be long untill a complete cancer cure is available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGeorge Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 It might end up helping someone after about 10 yrs of research. That is, unless drug Companies find away to bury it in favor of a medication that makes cancer "cronic" meaning a steady stream of income. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Napalm Frog Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 Hmm, once again two wrongs make a right... Virus + Cancer = Cure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sn1p3t Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 Hmm, once again two wrongs make a right... Virus + Cancer = Cure... 586125256[/snapback] A virus isn't necessarily bad. A virus is simply a cell that needs a host body to reproduce. In this case, it can only use cancerous cells. :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L3thal Veteran Posted June 27, 2005 Veteran Share Posted June 27, 2005 Interesting article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+virtorio MVC Posted June 27, 2005 MVC Share Posted June 27, 2005 At the rate that things are going, it looks like it wont be long untill a complete cancer cure is available. 586125250[/snapback] That's what they said back in 1986. But good luck to them, I hope it works this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tartan Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 Well yah know what they say "fight fire with fire" - let's just hope that the pharmaceutical companies don't kill it like they have with every other cure before it becomes public knowledge...after all 'treating' life threatning illnesses makes them billionares.......curing them doesn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurono Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 Sounds like a good discovery. :) I hope they'll be able to further their research and make a cure available to people with cancer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Kompressor Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 (edited) excellent news. :D real link to the article in case someone else is looking for it. http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle....ER-VIRUS-DC.XML Edited June 27, 2005 by Tech001101 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiGGA Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 I long for the day we don't have to fear cancer. Such a killer it is, the day it gets wiped out I'll be smoking out of my ears and through my nose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdodson Posted June 28, 2005 Share Posted June 28, 2005 Recent testing with lab rats showed that HIV can be made to seek out and destroy cancerous cells without infecting the rat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boffa Jones Veteran Posted June 28, 2005 Veteran Share Posted June 28, 2005 Recent testing with lab rats showed that HIV can be made to seek out and destroy cancerous cells without infecting the rat. 586133780[/snapback] That would suck if it failed... And you ended up with cancer and aids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
protoss_chaos Posted June 28, 2005 Share Posted June 28, 2005 this is awesome news... it means that ridding yourself of cancer would be a simple shot in the doctors office! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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