Zika Virus…a Cure for Brain Cancer?

A summary of ZIKV Photo from: Google Images

ZIKV is a virus that is spread by daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes. The infection mostly causes very mild symptoms similar to Dengue Fever. Babies in the womb can have slightly more adverse effects such as brain malformations and birth defects. Researchers studied how ZIKV was causing these problems for babies. One main concern that arose was that ZIKV was causing the death of stem cells which are in high abundance in babies.

Recently experts have been studying how to use ZIKV to treat brain cancer, specifically glioblastoma. Glioblastoma is a type of brain cancer that is very common in adults and can grow and spread quickly. Due to its rapid growth, glioblastoma is tricky to treat and the common treatments, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery, are unable to fully remove it.

Taking the knowledge that ZIKV targets stem cells in babies, researchers investigated whether or not ZIKV would target cancer cells in adults as they have relatively few stem cells. An article published in The Journal of Experimental Science reports the findings of this experiment. In living mice and donated human brain tissue samples, ZIKV was seen to kill the cancer cells. This is a huge step forward in the research.

Human trials are still some way away but so far the results look promising. The next step before human trials is to try and modify the virus to make a tamer version with the same effect on the cancer cells. This ensures that patients will be safe from other symptoms when treated.

For a general summary of the research conducted, the following YouTube video is informative:

Although the research is still in its early stages, I feel that it could have a lot of potential once human trials begin. This could lead to a treatment for cancer that is more effective than what we have today.

~ Sajni Shah

References:

1) Zhe Zhu, Matthew J. Gorman, et al. “Zika virus has oncolytic activity against glioblastoma stem cells.”  Journal of Experimental Medicine Oct 2017, 214 (10) 2843-2857.

2) Roberts, Michelle. “Zika virus used to treat aggressive brain cancer.” BBC News, BBC, 5 Sept. 2017, www.bbc.com/news/health-41146628.