Research Infection With Cancer

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Tue, 27 Jun 2006 00:56:27 -0000

Research Links Infection With Cancer

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.rense.com/general72/chemo.htm

 

 

New Research Links

Infection With Cancer

Study raises hopes antibiotics may be an

alternative to chemo, radiation

From Alan Cantwell M.D.

MSNBC.com

6-26-6

 

New research links infection with cancer Study raises hopes

antibiotics may be an alternative to chemo, radiation The Associated

Press Updated: 12:41 a.m. AKT Oct 31, 2005 PARIS - New research

suggests that infection with bacteria from the Chlamydia family may

play a role in the development of a type of lymphoma that affects the

tissue around the eye, raising hopes that antibiotics may one day

prove to be an alternative to chemotherapy or radiation.

 

The study, presented Monday at the European Cancer Conference, is the

latest to link infection with cancer, following the establishment of

the human papilloma virus as the major cause of cervical cancer and

the bacteria Helicobacter pylori as a cause of stomach cancer.

 

" This is sensational, " said Dr. Dieter Hossfeld, a professor of

oncology at the University of Hamburg, Germany, who was not involved

with the research. " It was first noted in Italy and now it's been

confirmed on the other side of the world in Korea, and we've heard

that there are similar findings in the United States, so it's not a

regional disease and is obviously a valid thing, " Hossfeld said.

 

The bacteria in question, Chlamydia psittaci, can be contracted from

infected birds such as parrots. Scientists also suspect it can come

from household cats because they also carry it. Chlamydia psittaci is

known to cause a lung infection called psittacosis. In the study, Dr.

Changhoon You from the Asan Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea,

compared chlamydia infection in 33 people with ocular adnexal

lymphoma, or OAL, and 21 people with a comparable but non-cancerous

condition called non-neoplastic ocular adnexal disease. He found the

Chlamydia psittaci strain was present in 78 percent of the cancer

patients, but only in 23 percent of those in the comparison group.

 

In a previous study conducted in Italy, the bacteria were found in 80

percent of people with the lymphoma and in none of those in a

comparison group of healthy people. " In the future, eradication of

the (germ) could be a common treatment method for low-grade lymphoma,

replacing current cytotoxic chemotherapy or radiation, " You said. The

Chlamydia family of bacteria has been linked to cancer before.

 

Scientists already have shown that another strain, Chlamydia

trachomatis, is linked to the development of cervical cancer.

Another, Chlamydia pneumoniae, has been linked to lung cancer. Ocular

adnexal lymphoma belongs to a group of lymphomas where cellular

changes result from immune system responses gone awry.

 

Scientists say it makes sense that infections such as chlamydia could

contribute to the development of the disease. " It makes biological

sense, but whether it will translate into anything practical, and for

how many patients, this is the question, " said Dr. Joachim Yahalom, a

lymphoma specialist at Memorial SloanKettering Cancer Center in New

York who was not connected with the research. In many of these types

of lymphoma, an infection can start the process, but at some point

the cancer becomes independent of the infection. So unless the

infection is treated early, antibiotics may not be enough, Yahalom

said.

 

Alan Cantwell M.D.

alancantwell

http://www.ariesrisingpress.com