Researchers have discovered that a cancer-causing virus manufactures a protein, called HBZ, that helps the virus not only infect immune cells but also allows the virus to survive and thrive in the infected immune cells. The human T-cell leukemia virus type 1, HTLV-1, is a retrovirus and a distant cousin to HIV, the cause of AIDS. According to Ohio State University Comprehensive Center and the College of Veterinary Medicine researchers, 15 to 25 million people are infected with HTLV-1 worldwide, and one to four percent of them will eventually develop adult T-cell leukemia or lymphoma, a cancer that does not respond well to treatment and can cause death within six months after diagnosis.
"Our study is the first to show that this novel protein is important for survival of the virus, which suggests that a drug that targets it might disrupt viral replication and provide a new therapy for infected people." I wonder if one day it will be determined that virus is the cause of many cancers? Researchers seem to keep coming up with data suggesting the prevalence of numerous viruses and the link to various different cancers.
