Scientists in London today hailed new research suggesting that the measles virus can help fight cancer.
A team at the Institute of Cancer Research believes the virus can be used as part of a “quadruple whammy” of treatment to fight bowel and head and neck cancer.
Professor Kevin Harrington, joint head of radiotherapy at the ICR, in Brompton Road, said: “Measles is usually considered an enemy to human health, but here we’ve harnessed the virus to kill cancer cells.
“Each of the four treatments in this study can work on their own against cancer, but by using them together they have an even larger effect, giving cancer a quadruple whammy.”
Exposing cancer cells to a genetically-modified measles virus, in conjunction with radioactive iodide, radiation treatment and gene-targeting drugs, was found to be much more effective than using any treatment separately.
Tests on mice with head and neck tumours found more than half survived to 60 days, compared with an average of 35 days when treated with radiotherapy alone.
The next stage is to carry out tests on human patients. The findings are considered important because it means the amount of radiation treatment can be controlled, limiting its harmful effect on healthy tissues. About 50,000 people a year in the UK are diagnosed with bowel cancer — the fourth most common cancer — or head and neck cancer, normally seen as oral cancer.
