UT Southwestern researchers link human lymphomas to polio vaccine tainted with mo...( o the researchers. This potenti...)

This potentially could lead to new developments in diagnosis and treatment, Gazdar said.

Dr. John Minna, director of the Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research, said researchers were looking for a viral connection with lymphoma 20 or 30 years ago, and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) sequences have been found in some lymphomas of Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin types. But it looked like a strong viral association did not exist.

This brings that back into the picture, he said.

Minna said it is known that SV40 activates a protein that interacts with and deactivates the proteins that control the normal cellular life cycle, creating immortal malignant cells.

Could we block that and allow the cell to stop growing? he said.

While they hold great promise, there is some distance yet between the current findings and any clinically applicable breakthroughs. It is more likely that they will lead to screening and early detection techniques before yielding vaccines or therapies.

We have some clues, but its not going to be fast, Gazdar said. The first thing is for scientists around the world to duplicate our research. Fortunately, Dr. Janet Butel, a noted virologist from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, has independently obtained almost identical data, which will also be published in The Lancet. These two extensive and carefully done studies present a powerful one-two punch against skeptics.

'"/>

Contact: Wayne Carter
Wayne.Carter@UTSouthwestern.edu
214-648-3404
UT Southwestern Medical Center
7-Mar-2002