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Hi Everyone,

I have been keeping my head down for a while. I was running

through some of my emails and found this from Mediwire 26May

Here is the link and text below

http://www.medwire-news.md/news/article.aspx?k=53 & id=57225

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Weekly service published on Fridays that offers the general public and patients

suffering with lymphoma, particularly non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, news about the

latest treatments for the condition and improvements in patient quality of life.

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Scientists investigate virus link to lymphoma

26 May 2006

University of Rochester

Researchers in the USA are to study whether there is a link between the simian

virus 40 (SV40) and an increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in humans.

SV40 is a virus that originated in monkeys and has been associated with an

increased risk of lymphoma in these animals. Between 1955 and 1963, an estimated

150 million people worldwide may have received a polio vaccine that was

contaminated with SV40.

It is has therefore been proposed that the contaminated polio vaccine may have

been responsible for a significant increase in the number of people affected by

lymphoma in the latter half of the 20th Century.

However, although many large studies have examined a possible link between SV40

and cancer, they have produced conflicting results, explain scientists from the

University of Rochester in New York.

" There are still many questions about the virus and whether it contributes to

the development of cancer, " said lead research Dr Fisher. " Ultimately, if

we are able to pinpoint the virus as a source of cancer, scientists can work to

engineer therapies that will target the virus and improve the treatments for

cancer. "

For their 5-year study, which is being supported by the National Cancer

Institute, the researchers will analyse tissue samples taken from 300 people

with lymphoma or non-cancerous conditions for antibodies to SV40.

If evidence of SV40 infection is found among the lymphoma patients, the

researchers will then test blood samples taken from these patients' families to

see if they also carry the viral antibodies.

Dr Fisher concluded: " If we find family clusters with the virus, it will help us

determine how the virus is transmitted.

" This may offer another important clue in the advancement of cancer research and

care. "

University website

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Cheers