Study discovers link between virus and prostate cancer

Following numerous links between viral infections and cancer development, research teams from the University of Utah and Columbia University have connected prostate cancer with a virus.

There have been a number of exciting developments in the connections between common viruses and the later development of cancers and other major ailments. Recent studies have shown notable viral connections to Parkinsons, to skin cancer, to mouth cancer, and even to autism and schizophrenia. Now researchers working collaboratively between the University of Utah and Columbia University have established an important link between a virus and prostate cancer. The remarkable development may very well lead to effective vaccination programs that could result in a great reduction in prostate cancer deaths worldwide. In the United States alone, there have been over 27,000 prostate cancer deaths year-to-date in 2009. The study was published in the online journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and centered on a virus that is known to cause leukemia among animals. This is the first time the virus was found among malignant human prostate cancer cells. Prostate cancer is diagnosed in 200,000 American males every year.