Clinical studies and research are on to use a vaccine of the wild form of measles virus to attack the untreatable form of brain cancer. The experiments carried out on several animal models revealed that the tumor shrinks on reacting to this ‘viral vaccine’ and can increase the survival. To highlight one of the findings, administration of the viral vaccine through the veins showed results in slowing down the tumor growth in mice.

A study is now in progress to experiment with live measles vaccine in patients diagnosed with brain cancer. This new approach of administering measles vaccine strains, if successful, could offer a huge promise for another effective treatment of the brain cancer in the future.

The non-pathogenic "oncolytic" virus, on entering the human body, spreads by replicating and attacks and destroys these harmful lethal cells causing cancer. This viral therapy thus shrinks the tumor cells and is known to cause only minimal damage to the nearby healthy tissues.

But the effectiveness of this treatment has been limited based on the immune system’s response of the patient. A person with a strong immune system would be able to fight the virus and most of the adults are found to be already immune to measles either because they have been vaccinated or they might have already had measles in their childhood.

Currently, research is on to utilize these viruses to cure breast and pancreatic cancer also.

More Articles :

• Brain Cancer Measle Vaccine
• Could My Child Have Measles
• How Measles Was Named
• Measles And Third World Prevention
• Measle Tranmission
• The Measles Life Cycle
• Where Does Measles Originate From