A cancer-killing virus has been discovered by Canadian researchers, according to an article in the July 1 issue of Nature Medicine.
Vesicular stomatitis virus, or VSV, is found mainly in tropical countries and causes mild flu-like symptoms in humans. However, when tumors are injected with VSV, the virus selectively destroys the cancerous cells.
Researchers implanted human melanoma cells into laboratory mice; each resulting tumor was nourished with mouse blood but still was genetically human. When the tumors were injected with VSV, it selectively killed the cancerous cells and left the normal cells unaffected. The most effective results were produced by treating the mice with interferon, a drug that protects normal human cells during treatment with VSV.
"It appears that many kinds of tumors have a common defect," said John Bell, Ph.D., professor of medicine at the University of Ottawa and director of the study. "This defect is what makes them susceptible to this virus."
Researchers also conducted test-tube experiments in which VSV destroyed breast, prostate, lung and colon cancers, as well as leukemia.
They plan to conduct further research with VSV and hope to proceed to human clinical trials.
