Public release date: 30-Oct-2007
(BRONX, NY) – Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have shown for the first time that cancers can be successfully treated by targeting the viruses that cause them. The findings, published in the October 31 issue of PloS One, also raise the possibility of preventing cancer by destroying virus-infected cells before they turn cancerous.
Nearly 20 percent of human cancers worldwide are caused by preexisting virus infections. Prime examples are liver cancer (caused by hepatitis B and C viruses), cervical cancer (caused by human papillomaviruses) and certain lymphomas (caused by the Epstein-Barr virus). But while antigens on the surface of cells are susceptible to attack by antibodies, the viral antigens associated with cancers typically lurk inside infected cells, so scientists had assumed that antibodies couldn’t reach them.
“Virus-associated cancers account for some 1.3 million cancer cases each year, so the need for new strategies in treating them is obvious and urgent,” says Dr. Dadachova. “Our study has shown in principle that radioimmunotherapy can help in treating cancers caused by viruses—and, just as exciting, the approach also holds promise for cancer prevention. In people chronically infected with hepatitis B or C, human papillomaviruses, or other viruses known to cause cancer, radioimmunotherapy could potentially eliminate virus-infected cells before they’re able to transform into cancer cells.”
“Virus-associated cancers account for some 1.3 million cancer cases each year, so the need for new strategies in treating them is obvious and urgent,” says Dr. Dadachova. “Our study has shown in principle that radioimmunotherapy can help in treating cancers caused by viruses—and, just as exciting, the approach also holds promise for cancer prevention. In people chronically infected with hepatitis B or C, human papillomaviruses, or other viruses known to cause cancer, radioimmunotherapy could potentially eliminate virus-infected cells before they’re able to transform into cancer cells.”