Common cold virus able to kill cancer cells, pioneering study finds

A new study has discovered the cure of bladder cancer through dosing it with another kind of virus that can infect and kill it.

After carrying out a study, researchers from University of Surrey concluded that the common cold virus can ‘help revolutionize treatment’ for bladder cancer by infecting and killing its cells, and can even cut down the risk of it occurring again.

Scientists conducted early-stage phase 1 human trials, which showed that the virus directly induces tumor cell death. The team used a strain of the common cold virus called coxsackievirus (CVA21), as an oncolytic agent targeting bladder cells. Oncolytic virus is the one known to target and kill cancer cells either by directly hunting and eliminating them, or by helping the immune system, explained New Atlas.

Renowned cancer-fighting protein can also boost cancer growth: study

The trial consisted of 15 patients with the common non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), which is generally challenging to treat. They were given CVA21 directly into the bladder through a catheter. A week later, the patients went through a surgery to remove the tumors, allowing the scientists to assess how well the virus penetrated the cancer cells.

All the patients showed evidence that the virus effectively penetrated the bladder cancer cells. The tumor cell death was also seen to be stimulated by the virus, and an increase in the inflammatory cytokines was seen that showed that the virus triggered the body’s immune system too to better target and attack the cancer cells.

“Reduction of tumor burden and increased cancer cell death was observed in all patients and removed all trace of the disease in one patient following just one week of treatment, showing its potential effectiveness,” said principal investigator Hardev Pandha. “Notably, no significant side effects were observed in any patient.”

Now, the team hopes to extend the trials and check if the new treatment can be used along with other new immunotherapy treatments.