AP) In a surprising discovery, researchers say they have found a virus in some prostate cancer patients, a finding that opens new research avenues in the most common major cancer among American men.
The virus, closely related to one previously found only in mice, was found in cancerous prostates removed from men with a certain genetic defect.Infectious disease-causing viruses are already blamed for causing some liver cancers and cervical cancer. That has planted nagging suspicions in the minds of scientists that some diseases may play important roles alongside genetics, environment and chance in causing breast, stomach and several other forms of cancer.
Researchers are not sure how the virus infected people, but suspect it has been passed on genetically for thousands of years.
The researchers also want to determine how widespread the virus is in humans and whether it is exclusive to prostate patients. Prostate cancer is the most frequent cancer and the second leading cause of death among men older than 50.
Others are expected to look for other potential viral links to prostate cancer beyond the well-trod investigative areas of environmental, racial and genetic backgrounds. Prostate cancer, for instance is found more often as men age, among blacks and the overweight than in the general populations. There also are hereditary links to prostate cancer.
Now, researchers have another, potential viral suspect to investigate.
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