Zika virus could hold key to destroying brain tumours

SCIENTISTS are to begin a trial to examine whether the Zika virus could destroy brain tumours.

The University of Cambridge is to trial Zika on glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive form of brain tumour, which affects 2,200 people in Britain each year.

Crucially, unlike other treatments, the virus can pass the blood-brain barrier – a membrane which acts like a filter to prevent all but the most vital nutrients passing through.

Zika’s ability to pass through this barrier causes severe disability in babies by attacking stem cells in the developing brain, but scientists hope to harness the same trait to fight cancer. In glioblastoma, the cancer cells resemble those in the developing brain, suggesting that the Zika infection could attack them too.

Dr Harry Bulstrode, a Cancer Research UK scientist at the University of Cambridge, said: “We hope to show that the Zika virus can slow down brain tumour growth in tests in the lab.

“If we can learn lessons from Zika’s ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and target brain stem cells selectively, we could be holding the key to future treatments.”

This early stage research will explore how the virus targets stem cells. Dr Iain Foulkes, director of research and innovation at Cancer Research UK, which is funding the research, said: “We ur- gently need new insights and treatments to tackle glioblastomas, one of the most common and difficult to treat forms of brain tumours.

“Finding new ways to treat brain tumours to help more people survive the disease is a priority.”