Ancient Greek physician and father of medicine Hippocrates stated: Give me the power to create a fever and I shall cure any disease”. More than two thousand years later, modern scientists are trying to prove his theory true.
Common viruses are becoming the latest cure against cancer with a small Australian biotechology group one of the forefronters in this field.
Ancient Greeks made the observation initially, however, there have been a couple of cases of cancer patients entering spontaneous remission after being exposed to common viruses. An eight-year-old cancer patient in Uganda was exposed to the measles virus and within a few weeks, his tumour had regressed.
But only recently have doctors researched into the growing area known as oncolytic virotherapy.
Could the common cold be the ‘Holy Grail’ of cancer treatment? Clinical trials have began looking at this new method of treating cancer.