The common cold virus appears to stymie a deadly form of skin cancer, according to researchers at Australia's University of Newcastle.

Australia has the highest rate of melanoma in the world, CNN reports. But a team led by Professor Darren Shafren has found that the common cold virus (medically called the coxsackievirus) appears to destroy malignant melanoma cells. He calls his studies on human and animal cells, reported in the January edition of Clinical Cancer Research, "a significant breakthrough" that he hopes to replicate in human trials.

Shafren says the cold viruses injected into the melanoma cells were not manufactured or genetically altered.

Melanoma kills about 1,000 Australians a year, CNN reports.