Link between prostate cancer viruses

Two common viruses known to be associated with human cancers are both present – and may be collaborating with each other – in most male prostate cancers, a new study suggests. The human papillomavirus, or HPV, virus along with the Epstein Barr virus (EBV) are present in more than half of malignant prostate cancers found in Australian men, as well as in a high proportion of benign and normal prostate samples.

The study led by Associate Professor Noel Whitaker and Professor James Lawson of the University of NSW school of biotechnology and bimolecular sciences is published in the journal The Prostate.