Which virus may cause prostate cancer?

A study published by US researchers shows that a virus that can cause cancer in animals may also be one of the causes of prostate cancer in humans. The virus is called XMRV and is a retrovirus. Previous studies have shown that this virus can cause cancer in animals, but it has not been found to cause cancer in humans.

Researchers from the University of Utah and Columbia University School of Medicine scanned the tumors of 233 prostate cancer patients and the prostate tissues of 101 healthy people and found that 27% of prostate tumors contained traces of the XMRV virus, and the virus appeared more frequently in malignant tumors, while only 6% of healthy prostate tissues contained the XMRV virus. The viral protein of XMRV only binds to human proteins in prostate tumors, which indicates that infection with the XMRV virus may be directly related to the formation of prostate tumors.

The researchers said that they are still unable to determine whether the XMRV virus is a causative factor of prostate cancer, but once confirmed, this result will hopefully open up new avenues for the development of prostate cancer treatment drugs or vaccines. This study was published on the 7th in the online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men after lung cancer, and about 250,000 men die from prostate cancer each year worldwide. At present, many cancers suffered by humans are caused by viruses, such as cervical cancer and lymphoma. A research result published by American researchers shows that a virus that can cause cancer in animals may also be one of the causative factors of human prostate cancer.

The virus is called XMRV, and it is a retrovirus. Previous studies have shown that the virus can cause cancer in animals, but it has not yet been found to cause cancer in humans. Researchers from the University of Utah and Columbia University School of Medicine scanned the tumors of 233 prostate cancer patients and the prostate tissues of 101 healthy people and found that 27% of prostate tumors had traces of the XMRV virus, and the virus appeared more frequently in malignant tumors. Only 6% of healthy prostate tissues had XMRV virus.

In addition, the viral protein of XMRV only binds to human proteins in prostate tumors, which indicates that infection with the XMRV virus may be directly related to the formation of prostate tumors.

The researchers said they are still unable to determine whether XMRV is a causative factor of prostate cancer, but once confirmed, this result will hopefully open up new avenues for the development of prostate cancer treatment drugs or vaccines. The study was published in the online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on the 7th. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men after lung cancer, and about 250,000 men die from prostate cancer each year worldwide. Currently, many cancers suffered by humans are caused by viruses, such as cervical cancer and lymphoma.