Virus Kills Breast Cancer Cells in Laboratory
Posted on August 5, 2012 Comments (2)
Some very exciting and good news from Penn State. Researchers have found a virus that kills breast cancer cells. It is great to read about research breakthroughs like this. Of course, most of these announcements never become practical solutions, unfortunately. And if they do it is many many years later and almost always in much less exciting ways than the headlines. Still, the percentage that do make it through the process into workable solutions provide us great benefits.
Virus kills breast cancer cells in laboratory
“Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer in the world and is the leading cause of cancer-related death in women,” said Samina Alam, research associate in microbiology and immunology. “It is also complex to treat.”
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“We can see the virus is killing the cancer cells, but how is it doing it?” Alam said. “If we can determine which viral genes are being used, we may be able to introduce those genes into a therapeutic. If we can determine which pathways the virus is triggering, we can then screen new drugs that target those pathways. Or we may simply be able to use the virus itself.”
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AAV2 does not affect healthy cells. However, if AAV2 were used in humans, the potential exists that the body’s immune system would fight to remove it from the body. Therefore, by learning how AAV2 targets the death pathways, researchers potentially can find ways to treat the cancer without using the actual virus.
In ongoing studies, the Penn State researchers also have shown AAV2 can kill cells derived from prostate cancer, mesothelioma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma. A fourth line of breast cancer cells — representing the most aggressive form of the disease — also was studied in a mouse breast tumor model, followed by treatment with AAV2. Preliminary results show the destruction of the tumors in the mice, and researchers will report the findings of those mouse studies soon.
The fight against cancer has many promising breakthroughs. We have made some great progress. Still the fight is extremely difficult and we have many more frustrations than successes.
Related: Webcast of a T-cell Killing a Cancerous Cell – Synthetic Biologists Design a Gene that Forces Cancer Cells to Commit Suicide – Researchers Find Switch That Allows Cancer Cells to Spread
Categories: Health Care, Life Science, Research, Science, Universities
Tags: cancer, human health, medical research, Science, university research, using viruses, women
2 Responses to “Virus Kills Breast Cancer Cells in Laboratory”
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August 14th, 2012 @ 8:27 am
This is very great news.Breast cancer is know to be one of the most deadly diseases in Kenya.Hope it will be a practical solution.
May 31st, 2014 @ 2:36 pm
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