Cool cancer treatment
the cold virus could become a friend for cancer patients. New research suggests that patients undergoing chemotherapy are more likely to survive for a longer period when treated with a cold virus. Fadlo Khuri of the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas in Houston, usa, found that three patients with incurable neck and head cancer had survived for three years after being treated with a cold virus modified to attack tumours. They also received simultaneous chemotherapy.
Says Khuri, head of the team that developed the treatment: "All these patients were considered no-hopers beforehand.' Usually, patients with head and neck cancer seldom survive between six months to one year when treated with chemotherapy alone. Khuri gave 30 patients cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil