The Zika virus can wreak¹ havoc² on the brain of a developing fetus³, but its destructive power may also be harnessed to fight a stubborn form of adult brain cancer, researchers said.

 

研究人员近日称，虽然寨卡病毒会严重损害胎儿大脑，但其破坏性也可以被用来治疗一种顽固性成人脑癌。

 

Early studies have shown the mosquito-borne virus can destroy cells responsible for glioblastoma, the most common form of brain cancer.

 

Glioblastoma affects 12,000 people per year in the United States, and was recently diagnosed in Senator John McCain.

 

The standard treatment is chemotherapy and radiation. But most patients die within two years.

 

The secret to Zika's apparent success, the latest experiments show, is that the virus specifically takes aim at brain cancer stem cells, the kind that tend to survive chemotherapy and spread.

 

When a pregnant woman is infected with Zika, she faces a higher risk of bearing an infant with an unusually small head because Zika destroys these cells, leading to the irreversible condition known as microcephaly.

 

Zika tends to attack neuroprogenitor cells, which are common in fetuses⁴ but rare in adults.

 

More work is needed before the treatment can be safely attempted in humans.

 

The virus would likely be injected directly into the brain during surgery to remove the primary tumor⁵.

 

Extra studies on Zika's effects on the brain tissue of epilepsy patients showed the virus did not infect noncancerous brain cells.

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