Want to Prevent Cancer? Decrease the Number of Latent Viruses in Your Body; The CBCD Announces the Publication of a New Research Paper in the Medical Journal Oncotarget

VALLEY COTTAGE, N.Y., Dec. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Center for the Biology of Chronic Disease (CBCD) announces the publication of a new research paper titled "Copy number of latent viruses, oncogenicity, and the microcompetition model" in the science journal 'Oncotarget' [1]  The authors of the paper are Dr. Hanan Polansky and Dr. Hava Schwab.  The paper explains how hidden viruses can cause cancer.

The paper is important since it addresses three basic misconceptions on the relationship between viruses and cancer.  The first misconception is that viruses don't cause cancer.  This is incorrect.  Extensive scientific research has shown that some viruses can cause cancer.  The most famous virus is the human papilloma virus, or HPV.  This virus causes cervical cancer, and has been linked to breast cancer.  Another is the Epstein Barr virus, or EBV, that has been linked to breast cancer.

Viruses have two major phases, active and latent.  Active is when the virus causes clear symptoms.  For instance, the HPV causes warts.  Latent is when the virus is hidden, that is, does not cause clear symptoms.  The second misconception is that latent viruses are harmless and could be left untreated.  This is also wrong.  For instance, the types of HPV that are most likely to cause cancer are the kinds that are asymptomatic.  Moreover, Dr. Hanan Polansky has showed in his book "Microcompetition with Foreign DNA and the Origin of Chronic Disease," and in subsequent papers, how latent viruses can cause cancer and other diseases [2-4].

A third misconception is that the only way to prevent cancer is to clear the virus.  The Polansky and Schwab paper shows that, in contrast to this misconception, an infected individual can prevent cancer by decreasing the copy number of latent viruses in his body.  The copy number, or the viral load, is the number of viruses found in cells of the infected individual.  The paper shows that an increase in the copy number increases the risk of cancer, and therefore, an infected individual should find a way to decrease the number of latent viruses in his body.

The immune system controls the copy number of these viruses.  So a strong immune system is important.  However, many events can damage the immune system.  These events include stress, drugs, aging, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.  To quote the published CBCD article: "When such an event occurs, the efficiency of the immune system decreases, the copy number of the latent viruses increases, and the risk of cancer also increases." In other words, these events damage the immune system, increase the copy number of latent viruses hiding in the cell, and increase the risk of cancer.

As of now, there are no approved drugs that target latent viruses.  The current antiviral drugs only target replicating viruses, or viruses that are in an active state.

References

[1] Polansky H, Schwab H. Copy number of latent viruses, oncogenicity, and the microcompetition model. Oncotarget. 2018;9(60):31568-9. https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.25804  

[2] Polansky H. Microcompetition with foreign DNA and the origin of chronic disease. Rochester, NY: CBCD Publishing. 2003.

[3] Polansky H, Schwab H. Latent viruses can cause disease by disrupting the competition for the limiting factor p300/CBP. Cell Mol Biol Lett. 2018;23:56. doi: 10.1186/s11658-018-0121-1.

[4] Polanksy H, Kestenbaum EH. Male‐pattern baldness, common latent viruses, and microcompetition. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2018;17(6):1286-7. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocd.12710

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SOURCE The Center for the Biology of Chronic Disease (CBCD)