Inside Duke Medicine
Common virus could be key to fighting brain cancer
posted June 5th, 2008By targeting a common virus, doctors may be able to extend the lives of patients diagnosed with the most prevalent and deadly type of brain tumor, according to a study led by researchers in Duke’s Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center.
A type of herpes virus called human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is found in up to 80 percent of Americans, though the virus normally produces very few clinical symptoms, is dormant, and is usually undetectable in most people.
However, more than 80 percent of patients newly diagnosed with the brain cancer glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) exhibit detectable CMV in their blood as well as in their tumors. The Duke team thought this might provide an opportunity to target brain tumors by going after the virus.