(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Most people try to avoid getting it, but researchers from Saint Louis University School of Medicine say the common cold may help fight cancer.

William Wold, Ph.D., and colleagues have found a way to genetically engineer the common cold virus so that it kills cancerous cells, while leaving healthy ones intact. They did this by modifying one gene, so the virus could grow in cancerous cells. However, they had to boost the activity of another gene to ensure that the virus would not grow in non-cancerous cells. Wold says, "When the virus infects cells, it takes the altered genes with it, and those genes attack cancer cells while leaving normal cells intact."

Researchers say, in preclinical tests, the virus effectively attacked cancerous tumors and did not harm normal tissue. Now, Wold and his team of researchers are expected to test the virus in clinical trials. The team has been studying the common cold virus for the last 30 years.

Wold says, "The potential is understandably huge. Some of our vectors are designed to destroy many different types of cancers, others are designed to be specific to colon or lung cancer."

The adenovirus is the virus responsible for the common cold. Wold's technology is now patented, and researchers are collaborating to develop new therapies for cancer and other diseases that will be tested in a clinical setting.

SOURCE: Saint Louis University School of Medicine

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