What? Kill Cancer with Measles Virus?

Breakthrough: Measles virus hold potential for cancer treatment.

Have you read the news? Measles Virus Kills Cancer

What? Kill Cancer with Measles Virus?
What? Kill Cancer with Measles Virus?

@healthbiztips by Arlene Gentallan

Cancer is hard to battle. In search for better ways to kill this deadly disease, let's talk about viruses, particularly measles.

A normal person will definitely dread the idea of contracting measles, but recent breakthrough reveals it can offer an effective way to fight cancer.

This may sound horrifying, but the potential of using virus for cancer treatment became evident when tumor growth progression deteriorated among some cancer patients who contracted viral illness.

One success story of using measles virus against cancer is the case of Stacy Erholtz who had a remission of multiple myeloma after she received a single dose containing massive amounts of attenuated measles virus courtesy of Mayo Clinic. Do note that the measles virus she received were laboratory engineered to be weaker.


How do measles virus kill cancer?

Attenuated measles virus' success against cancer cells lies in their preference for CD46 which is abundant in tumor cells.


Why choose Measles virus?

Among other virus, measles virus was selected for cancer treatment because it's strain is less volatile, which means it is less likely to create new strain.

You'll get a better picture of how stable measles virus is when you compare it to influenza virus. Influenza virus easily develops new strain so we are unable to gain a foolproof immunity against it, which is the reason people get their flue shot every single year.

It is crucial that the strain of virus used for cancer treatment do not cause a widespread infection. The risk of measles outbreak is lessened by the fact that a huge portion of the population is immune against this disease owing to successful vaccination. In addition, a person can develop a lifelong immunity after naturally acquiring this disease.

This oncolytic virus sounds promising but it's still at clinical trial.

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