Virus Linked to Prostate Cancer

A virus may be responsible for some prostate cancers and hold clues to the cause of the deadly disease, according to a new study. Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) has been previously linked to leukemia and sarcomas in animals, but researchers say this has more recently been identified in human prostate cancer samples.

"We found that XMRV was present in 27% of prostate cancers we examined and that it was associated with more aggressive tumors," researcher Ila R. Singh, MD, PhD, associate professor of pathology at the University of Utah, says in a news release. If further studies confirm that the virus causes prostate cancer, researchers say it would open new avenues for diagnostic tests, vaccines, and therapies for treating prostate cancer.

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