Retrovirus Linked to Aggressive Prostate Cancer

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Possibly joining the ranks of virus-linked cancers, virulent prostate cancers have shown a common thread: the XMRV gammaretrovirus

By Katherine Harmon

The cause of prostate cancer, which infects one in six U.S. men in their lifetimes, has long eluded researchers. A new study presents a convincing argument that prostate cancer, like some other cancers, including cervical cancer, lymphoma and sarcomas, might be linked to a virus.

Researchers, reporting in a study that will be published online tomorrow in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that the retrovirus xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) was present in about a quarter of cancerous prostate cells—and just 6 percent of control cells, which suggests a possible relationship. Additionally, "the virus is more likely to be present the more aggressive the prostate cancer is," says Ila Singh, a co-author of the study and an associate professor in pathology at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

The link between viruses and some cancers has been accepted for decades, and according to Joseph DeRisi, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute—and who wasn't involved in the report—some 15 percent of cancers are now known to be linked to viruses. Previous research in DeRisi's lab had described the presence of XMRV in prostate cancers a few years ago, but small sample sizes and lack of a non-cancerous control group prevented definitive correlation.

For such a common cancer—one that kills 3 percent of men worldwide—this is the first viral link to be found. "It's the only viral candidate for prostate cancer," says Singh.

The virus is a gammaretrovirus, which has been known to cause cancer in some animals, including rodents, cats and monkeys, but had not previously been found in humans. Retroviruses can integrate onto the chromosomes of a host, and if they happen to land on a cellular gene that controls growth, it can become overactive, "and you get a tumor," explains Singh.

Singh and her team also determined that the virus is not linked to a genetic mutation, as had previously been assumed—a finding that means all men are susceptible.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article....prostate-cancer

[mawilson 2,133]

[HAL 9000 96]

Wouldn't be the first cancer to be virus-related... women have to worry about cervical cancer due to papiloma virus... and men can carry it to infect their partners.

[tmma 467]

Right-but isn't it an important discovery due to immunizing against the virus could reduce the risk of developing the cancer?

[HAL 9000 96]

Right-but isn't it an important discovery due to immunizing against the virus could reduce the risk of developing the cancer?

As long as you can raise an effective vaccine. Its a lot harder said than done. I in no way am making this 'discovery' any less than what it is... its really cool actually.

Lets remind ourselves... guys... that its been implied for a long time already. Many doctors have suspected, for example, that the more sexual partners a man has had usually increases the chances of developing prostate cancer later in life- a risk decreased by safe sex practices.