(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Smoking may be the biggest cause of lung cancer,
but common viruses may also play a role.
Two new studies looked at how some viruses could contribute to the disease.
In the first, researchers from the University of Louisville in Kentucky analyzed
lung cancer samples from 23 patients. Six of them tested positive for human
papilloma virus (HPV) -- the virus that also causes many cases of cervical
cancer. One sample turned out to be a cervical cancer that had spread to the
lungs. Of the other five viruses, two were HPV type 16, two were HPV type 11 and
one was HPV type 22.
The authors say because five of the 22 non-small-cell lung cancer samples were
HPV-positive, this supports the assumption that HPV contributes to the
development of non-small-cell lung cancer.
All the patients in the study were smokers. Researchers think HPV can be a
co-carcinogen, which increases the risk of cancer in those who smoke.
In the second study, Israeli researchers suggest the measles virus may also play
a role in some lung cancers. When they looked at tissue samples from 65 patients
with non-small-cell lung cancer, they found more than half of them had the
virus.
"Measles virus is a ubiquitous human virus that may be involved in the
pathogenesis of lung cancer," lead author Professor Samuel Ariad from Soroka
Medical Center in Beer Sheva, Israel, was quoted as saying. "Most likely, it
acts in modifying the effect of other carcinogens and not as a causative factor
by itself."
SOURCE: 1st European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, April
23-26, 2008
