Sep 5, 2008 8:18 pm US/Eastern
Stand Up 2 Cancer: Fight Virus And Fight Cancer
Fighting Fire With Fire: Scientists Study The Virus To Wipe Out Cancer
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Stand Up 2 Cancer is more than a televised fundraiser on Sept. 5th, it's a mass movement.
CBS
Everybody knows catching a virus causes the common cold. Recent studies have shown virus infections may be linked to causing cancers.
According to health statistics approximately 1.3 million cases of cancer each year worldwide are directly related to previous viral infections," explained Dr. Dadachova.
Dr. Ekaterina Dadachova is a researcher at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.
It's believed some viruses alter the DNA of cells in our bodies, causing them to divide rapidly and relentlessly into tumors.
Most cases of cervical cancer are caused by HPV the human
papillomavirus .
Hepatitis virus has been linked to liver cancers.
Even some brain cancers and breast cancers have even been linked to viral infections.
While recent studies have linked viruses to causing a wide variety of cancers, researchers are now using viruses as weapons to attack cancer itself.
Dr. Glen Barber is with the University of Miami School of Medicine and said, "It's been found that some viruses are really very good in replicating in, and destroying tumor cells."
At his laboratory, Dr. Barber has made a startling discovery: cancer cells have trouble fighting viruses.
"We think that the tumor cells have a defect in their ability to react to virus infection," he added.
And by infecting tumors with a virus that doesn't harm normal cells, the cancers can be stopped, at least in animals.
"We can eradicate a lot of the tumors in the animals," Dr. Barber added. "But there is a big difference between eradicating the tumor in animals, and getting that to work in humans."
But some antiviral strategies are already paying off.
Gardasil is a cervical cancer vaccine that protects against infections of the human papillomavirus .
And while the vaccine came too late for 28-year old Shannon Arvizu, who was diagnosed with cervical cancer, she said it's not too late for others.
"If the vaccine had been available just a few years ago, this whole process could have been avoided," she told CBS4 Health Reporter Dr. Sean Kenniff.
There are other researchers attaching chemotherapy drugs, and even radioactive 'smart bombs' to viruses to enhance their tumor killing capability.
Raising awareness and funds for cancer research is the focus of Friday's Stand Up To Cancer special. CBS, along with NBC and ABC, will simultaneously devote one-hour of commercial-free prime time to raise funds for the fight against cancer. More than 60 celebrities are also participating in this unique mission.
During the show the stars will be on hand at the celebrity phone bank to take donation calls. Stand Up To Cancer will air on CBS4 on September 5th, beginning at 8 p.m.
If you want to find out more about the event and how to help, go to the website
standup2cancer.org.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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