Malaria—The Cancer Killer?
Malaria is known for being a bloodborne disease caused by a parasite, spread through mosquitos. A group of Danish researchers made a peculiar discovery, though, identifying certain aspects of Malaria that would spell doom for cancerous tumors. Malaria is especially dangerous to expecting mothers because the parasite may attack the placenta. The researchers observed several similarities between placentas and tumors, leading them to attach a cancer-killing toxin to the malaria protein.
The combination proved deadly—it was up to 90 percent effective in destroying various cancer samples, and it was also successfully tested in mice that were implanted with different types of human cancers. It may seem counterintuitive to trade off one deadly disease for another, but the researchers explained that the malaria protein attached only to the tumor, “without any significant attachment to other tissue.”
It will be a few years before the treatment is available for human testing, but scientists are hopeful it will be a big step up for cancer treatment.
Adapted from medicaldaily.com
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