Skin cancer is a malignant growth on the skin which can have many causes. Skin cancer generally develops in the epidermis (the outermost layer of skin), so a tumor is usually clearly visible. This makes most skin cancers detectable in the early stages. Scientists have discovered a previously unknown virus and strongly linked it with the most aggressive form of skin cancer, they reported in a scientific journal on Thursday.
The cancer, Merkel cell carcinoma, tends to occur most often on the sun-exposed areas of the body like the face, the head and the neck. Although it is rare, its incidence tripled from 1986 to 2001, and it now accounts for an estimated 1,200 cases in this country each year, the National Cancer Institute says.
The virus was discovered by a University of Pittsburgh team that includes Dr. Patrick S. Moore and his wife, Dr. Yuan Chang. In 1994, when they were at Columbia University, Dr. Moore and Dr. Chang discovered human herpes virus 8, which causes Kaposi’s sarcoma, the most common malignancy in AIDS patients. Until the advent of transplant surgery and AIDS, Kaposi’s sarcoma and Merkel cell carcinoma typically affected people older than 65.
Now those people have been joined as the most frequent Kaposi’s and Merkel cell sufferers by those whose immune systems have been compromised by AIDS or organ transplant drugs.The newly discovered virus belongs to the polyoma family, which scientists have studied for more than 50 years because other members of the family have been found to produce cancers in animals. Although polyoma viruses have been suspected of causing human cancers, conclusive proof has been lacking.
The Pittsburgh scientists call the new virus Merkel cell polyoma virus. In a report published online by the journal Science, they said that while they suspected that it caused Merkel cell skin cancer, more work was needed to prove it.
The polyoma virus is the seventh virus linked to human cancers, Dr. Moore and Dr. Fauci said. The others, in addition to the Kaposi’s sarcoma virus, are hepatitis B and C viruses, linked to liver cancer; papilloma virus, to cervical cancer; Epstein-Barr virus, to cancer of the nose and pharynx and to Burkitt’s lymphoma; and HTLV-1, or human T-cell leukemia virus 1.
While Dr. Moore and Dr. Chang were at Columbia they began developing a technique called digital transcriptome subtraction, which they continued to use after moving to Pittsburgh in 2002 to seek new or known viruses in immune-related cancers.
The findings raise new scientific challenges. One is to determine any links between the virus and other diseases. Among this team’s next steps is an effort to determine whether a virus is related to Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Dr. Moore said.
The technique used to identify the Merkel cell polyoma virus eliminates known human molecular sequences from a sample of tissue, leaving unknown or nonhuman sequences that the scientists explore in seeking a possible infectious agent. Dr. Moore said he hoped the technique would be useful in screening tissues from patients with diseases of unknown cause to find a new agent or to reduce the likelihood that they are related to one.
For more details Virus Is Linked to a Powerful Skin Cancer visit www.halfvalue.com and www.halfvalue.co.uk For more information on books visit www.Lookbookstores.com
The cancer, Merkel cell carcinoma, tends to occur most often on the sun-exposed areas of the body like the face, the head and the neck. Although it is rare, its incidence tripled from 1986 to 2001, and it now accounts for an estimated 1,200 cases in this country each year, the National Cancer Institute says.
The virus was discovered by a University of Pittsburgh team that includes Dr. Patrick S. Moore and his wife, Dr. Yuan Chang. In 1994, when they were at Columbia University, Dr. Moore and Dr. Chang discovered human herpes virus 8, which causes Kaposi’s sarcoma, the most common malignancy in AIDS patients. Until the advent of transplant surgery and AIDS, Kaposi’s sarcoma and Merkel cell carcinoma typically affected people older than 65.
Now those people have been joined as the most frequent Kaposi’s and Merkel cell sufferers by those whose immune systems have been compromised by AIDS or organ transplant drugs.The newly discovered virus belongs to the polyoma family, which scientists have studied for more than 50 years because other members of the family have been found to produce cancers in animals. Although polyoma viruses have been suspected of causing human cancers, conclusive proof has been lacking.
The Pittsburgh scientists call the new virus Merkel cell polyoma virus. In a report published online by the journal Science, they said that while they suspected that it caused Merkel cell skin cancer, more work was needed to prove it.
The polyoma virus is the seventh virus linked to human cancers, Dr. Moore and Dr. Fauci said. The others, in addition to the Kaposi’s sarcoma virus, are hepatitis B and C viruses, linked to liver cancer; papilloma virus, to cervical cancer; Epstein-Barr virus, to cancer of the nose and pharynx and to Burkitt’s lymphoma; and HTLV-1, or human T-cell leukemia virus 1.
While Dr. Moore and Dr. Chang were at Columbia they began developing a technique called digital transcriptome subtraction, which they continued to use after moving to Pittsburgh in 2002 to seek new or known viruses in immune-related cancers.
The findings raise new scientific challenges. One is to determine any links between the virus and other diseases. Among this team’s next steps is an effort to determine whether a virus is related to Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Dr. Moore said.
The technique used to identify the Merkel cell polyoma virus eliminates known human molecular sequences from a sample of tissue, leaving unknown or nonhuman sequences that the scientists explore in seeking a possible infectious agent. Dr. Moore said he hoped the technique would be useful in screening tissues from patients with diseases of unknown cause to find a new agent or to reduce the likelihood that they are related to one.
For more details Virus Is Linked to a Powerful Skin Cancer visit www.halfvalue.com and www.halfvalue.co.uk For more information on books visit www.Lookbookstores.com
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