“With further validation, Zika virus could be a highly effective treatment for patients with high-risk neuroblastoma,” said one of the study authors.
Sciences. Image: Unsplash.
he Neuroblastoma that it Rare childhood cancerIn front of her The Zika virus is effective in reducing or eliminating this tumor in miceA study has shown, which indicates this One day it could serve as a cure.
Study conducted by Nemours Children's Health (USA) and published by Cancer Research Communications Investigating the use of this virus to treat neuroblastomaboth in mice and rat models, which reproduced this disease in humans.
Genes, genetics, science. Image: Unsplash
A group of rodents with neuroblastoma were treated with Zika injections or serum alone. All who received the virus experienced almost complete shrinkage or complete elimination of the tumor. It did not appear again in the following four weeks, and the animals did not show any symptoms of infection.
You may be interested in:
The Argentine who revolutionized cancer treatments stresses that “science is not the place” to cut costs
Investigation details
To determine whether the treatment could help people survive longer, the researchers developed mouse models of human neuroblastoma tumors.
Tumor models that received the Zika virus shrank after 28 daysTo about 12% of the original mass.
After an additional four weeks, no additional tumor growth was detectedThis “suggests that patients treated with Zika virus will be more likely to survive,” the researchers noted. However, tumors injected with saline grew by up to 800% in the same time period
Researchers warned against this The use of Zika virus as a cancer treatment will require extensive additional studies covering safety and efficacy.
Neuroblastoma is a rare cancer in children that usually develops in the sympathetic nervous system or adrenal glands.
“More than half of patients with high-risk neuroblastoma do not respond to chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Or respond initially, but develop recurrence,” so “We urgently need new treatment options.”The study's lead author, Tamara Westmoreland, of Nemours Children's Hospital, said:
Previous studies have already indicated that certain types of cancers express this CD24 protein is susceptible to Zika virusany It opens the door to its use as a treatment.
“With further validation, Zika virus could be a highly effective treatment for patients with high-risk neuroblastoma,” said study co-author Joseph Mazar.
The team is now testing the treatment on the adrenal glands of mice that develop neuroblastoma, mimicking the most common site of this cancer in humans.
