Virus that does not cause disease kills human breast cancer cells in the laboratory, finds study. This finding would create opportunities for potential new cancer therapies.
Penn State College of Medicine researchers, who tested the virus on three different breast cancer types that represent the multiple stages of breast cancer development, made the findings. Adeno-associated virus type 2 (AAV2) is a virus that regularly infects humans but causes no disease. Past studies by the same researchers show that it promotes tumour cell death in cervical cancer cells infected with human papillomavirus. Researchers used an unaltered, naturally occurring version of AAV2 on human breast cancer cells.