Tumor-causing virus used to kill tumors

BALTIMORE, March 1 (UPI) -- Epstein-Barr virus, which is linked to lymphomas and other cancers, has been used to kill the tumors it causes, say researchers at Johns Hopkins.

Led by radiologist Martin Pomper and oncologist Richard Ambinder, the team is using a radioactive tracer called FIAU to light up the virus in tumors.

If the tumor glows, indicating that virus is present, they administer a chemotherapy drug called Velcade, which is used to treat the bone marrow malignancy multiple myeloma.

In addition to its cancer-killing properties, Velcade encourages viruses to go into their reproductive ("lytic") cycle and replicate. When the viral load is high enough, the tumor bursts and dies.

Pomper said he and his colleagues screened 2,700 agents before they found Velcade. Since it is already approved for use in human beings, he feels they were very lucky.

Although the technique has only been tried in mice carrying human Burkitt's lymphoma tumors, a cancer often associated with Epstein-Barr viral infection (as are three other types of lymphoma, nasopharyngeal cancer, and gastric cancer), the team hopes to test their method in human clinical trials as soon as possible.

They have also found a way to piggyback a low-energy gamma photon to the FIAU, which will enhance the treatment's tumor-killing potential.

The study appears in the March 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.