Five years after COVID-19, new study reveals virus may ¡®shrink cancerous tumours¡¯

COVID-19 wreaked havoc across the world, killing millions, but have you ever thought that it could be a silver lining for cancer patients? In a recent study, scientists found that the coronavirus strain can fight cancer.

Research conducted at the Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute found that COVID-19 may help shrink the cancerous tumours, the study is likely to be published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation later this month.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors surprisingly found that some cancer patients who were affected by the virus noticed that their tumours grew smaller or more slowly as compared to other cancer patients.

The study goes on to quote Dr. Ankit Bharat, the chief of thoracic surgery at Northwestern University, who revealed that they did not realise whether it was real as patients in the hospital were so ill. "Was it because the immune system was so triggered by the COVID-19 virus that it started killing the cancer cells? What was it?¡± he posed. This coincidence led the researchers and Dr. Bharat¡¯s team to investigate the matter and find out the answers.

The surprising link between COVID-19 and cancer tumours

COVID-19 and cancer tumours share an unexpected link by offering promising results for cancer cure. Researchers have discovered that the Covid-19 virus can trigger the immune system to attack cancer cells. If the results have the potential, then this can turn out to be an innovative treatment inspired for cancer, as per the researchers.

According to Dr. Bharat and his team, when SARS-CoV-2 is present, a type of immune cell behaves differently. Generally, the monocytes aid the immune system by passing through the bloodstream and alerting other immune cells when they detect foreign cells or dangers. Moreover, the protection effect changes in the presence of SARS-CoV-2, potentially allowing the immune system to fight the cancer cells more effectively.

RNA in the COVID-19 virus triggers the development of unique immune cells

Later, the study also found that the RNA within the COVID-19 virus triggers the development of a unique immune cell that has the ability to fight cancer. Those cells are then able to travel and target the cancer cells inside tumours.

The study findings are promising as these will help in developing a breakthrough treatment for common cancers such as melanoma, breast, lung, and colon cancer.

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