Viruses May Cause More Cancer than Previously Thought

[The Straight Story]

Viruses May Cause More Cancer than Previously Thought

Viruses may be causing more cancers than previously thought, according to a new study.

Scientists know that a few cancers, such as cervical cancer, are caused by viruses, because researchers have isolated the viral genomes from the cancerous cells. But some viruses may take a "hit and run" approach - inducing cancer and then vanishing before the disease is caught, the researchers say.

The new study, performed in mice, showed that a particular mouse herpesvirus could trigger cancer but then practically disappear from the cancer cells. Herpesviruses belong to a family of viruses called Herpesviridae that can infect humans and include chicken pox and the Epstein-Barr virus - a virus that virtually everyone is infected with, yet only causes cancer in rare cases.

"We're saying that herpes viruses could cause a lot more disease than you would guess if you limited your suspicion to just to cancers that came out having the virus genome in them," said study author Philip Stevenson, a researcher at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. "We're saying that they might cause orders of magnitude more cancers," he told LiveScience.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100819/sc_livescience/virusesmaycausemorecancerthanpreviouslythought

[Redstone]

1. Not new news, TSS, but under-reported news nonetheless.

There's long been suspicion that viruses are responsible for many cancers (and MS, which typically is triggered by a viral infection, and I know THAT'S true).

Kicking your post to the top, where it belongs.

Redstone

[The Straight Story]

2. Nice to see you old friend

Hope life is treating you ok.

[nashville_brook]

3. at one time it was complete heresy to suggest a virus could cause cancer.

it's nice when science wins.

[Recursion]

6. From what I remember this view comes and goes

In the late 70's there was this huge push to find a viral cause for cancer which never panned out, though it did lead to the understanding of retroviruses that ended up making finding HIV possible (even when science is wrong, it usually ends up being right about something else).

Finding a virus that causes cancer is sexy; finding a toxic cause is less sexy.

[kestrel91316]

7. Veterinarians and microbiologists have known that viruses are behind

lots of animal cancers for many decades. Physicians, as usual, thought humans were "special" and different.

[nashville_brook]

14. that's a damn good point! and really strange, too, since we use animals in testing

which is applied to humans.

[dkf]

4. What is the practical implication of this?

Do all types of viruses have the ability to so this? Why do they only mention herpes?

[phantom power]

8. one practical implication is that we could prevent more cancers w/ vaccines

[Confusious]

11. NOSSSSS!!!!! NOT VACCCCINEEEEEEESSSSSS!!!1! nt

[xchrom]

5. Recommend

[mzteris]

9. so getting the chickenpox VACCINE - could - say -

help keep you from getting CANCER that you might get from having the actual disease? Is that what they're saying?

[WolverineDG]

12. I think if there was a cancer/chicken pox connection

it would have been discovered already. :eyes:

dg

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

13. How?

[mzteris]

15. chickenpox is a herpes virus...

so if they're saying that the herpes virus can cause cancer, then..... ?? Thus my question. It wasn't a stupid question, you know.

[WolverineDG]

16. and injecting a live herpes virus into you keeps you from getting cancer how??? nt

[mzteris]

17. the same way injecting other "live viruses" keeps you from getting

diseases . . . ??

I'm asking a legitimate question here, not looking to continue your silly opposition to vaccinations.

[WolverineDG]

18. If you actually read what I've said, you would know I'm not opposed to most vaccines

:eyes:

Just chicken pox.

:eyes:

dg

[mzteris]

21. and based on your "why"

which I've given you ample evidence that your "why" is WRONG.

Maybe you haven't read any recent research on the efficacy?

[Gormy Cuss]

19. Actually, not true unless someone was looking for it.

As mentioned upthread there was a time (not so long ago IIRC) when suggesting that viruses play a role in triggering cancers was scoffed at.

[tavalon]

10. I have a theory that cancer cells start in areas that are chronically irritated and inflamed

I've applied for no grants nor do I intend to. It's just a personal idea I have.

[nashville_brook]

20. i think you're right...

i was really sick with MRSA a few years ago. so sick in fact that my liver went kerfluie. once i had the initial infection, i went into an autoimmune hyperdrive. but, while they were trying to figure out the problem with my liver, they thought it might be pancreatic, so they did endoscopy on my pancreas, which caused a lot of inflammation, aka pancreatitis. this is perhaps the most painful thing that's every happened to me...and the thing that i was already in the hospital for required a morphine pump. there's some math to do there.

after all this happened, i found out that just the fact of having had an inflamed pancreas increases the risk of developing pancreatic cancer. at least with this organ, i think it has to do with how fragile and sensitive it is. here's part of an abstract on it:

Pancreatic inflammation appears to increase the risk of pancreatic cancer. This observation is striking in the hereditary pancreatitis kindreds but also occurs in alcoholic, idiopathic, and tropical chronic pancreatitis and cystic fibrosis. However, the mutations associated with hereditary pancreatitis or cystic fibrosis are not found in sporadic pancreatic adenocarcinomas, suggesting that the effects are indirect by causing recurrent pancreatitis and chronic inflammation. The process of mutation accumulation and clonal expansion that is required for development of invasive pancreatic adenocarcinoma must therefore be accelerated in chronic pancreatitis to account for the high incidence of pancreatic cancer in these patients.

http://ajpgi.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/287/2/G315