Virus Link to Breast Cancer?
Posted on: Monday, 22 August 2005, 18:00 CDT
A common virus might explain the high rates of breast cancer in developed countries, a Christchurch researcher says.
An associate professor at Otago University's Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ann Richardson, and colleagues, have received a $30,000 grant from the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation, to probe a possible link between breast cancer and two viruses which strike most New Zealanders after childhood.
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein- Barr virus (EBV) generally produce no symptoms, but can cause glandular fever.
People in New Zealand and other developed countries have as much as five times the risk of developing breast cancer than people in developing countries.
Richardson became suspicious of a link when she learned that Japan, where children were exposed to viruses early in life, had very low levels of breast cancer.
"If you look at countries with low risk, those are countries where people tend to be exposed to viruses very young."
In Japan people were also exposed to viruses at a younger age than in New Zealand or other Western countries, Richardson said.
It was already known that breast cancer in mice was caused by a virus, she said. "It's not a wildly implausible idea that it can be caused by a virus in humans. What we are suggesting is that maybe it matters when you are exposed to this virus."
It was possible that when the virus struck later, such as during breast development, it triggered cancer.
The research money will help fund a study of blood samples taken from women before they developed breast cancer.
The samples will come from the Janus Serum Bank in Norway, which has been collecting blood for research since the 1970s.
Blood taken years ago can be matched with the donor, so scientists can analyse the blood of people who went on to develop breast cancer.
An earlier US study revealed high rates of breast cancer among Americans of recent Japanese descent, suggesting environmental factors played a significant role in the disease, Richardson said. Other cancers, such as cervical cancer, are also known to be triggered by viruses.
Richardson's research was one of nine projects to receive grants from the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation for 2006. The Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences received a record $415,000. The National Heart Foundation has also granted the school $421,720 for research into heart disease and heart failure.
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Source: Press, The; Christchurch, New Zealand
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