lidia09

I got curious too & found a link but as you say, posting links is forbidden....so this is wot it said.....

'The virus that causes the common cold can kill skin cancer cells, NSW researchers have discovered.

The University of Newcastle team describe their discovery as a breakthrough in the treatment of malignant melanoma, Australia's fifth most common cancer.

"The results we have had using human cells and also in animal studies have been very exciting," lead scientist Professor Darren Shafren said.

"If we can replicate that success in human trials, the treatment of this often fatal disease could be available within the next few years."

The cure may give patients a few sniffles, but Prof Shafren said the inconvenience of a cold was a far cry from the side effects of commonly-used cancer drugs.

"This is a commonly-occurring virus, not a manufactured drug or a genetically altered virus," he said.

"We believe it could even be effective for people with advanced melanoma."

In human trials, the cold virus, the coxsackievirus, will be injected into the site of the melanoma.

Once it starts to replicate itself, Prof Shafren said it is expected to start killing off the melanoma.

Within weeks, the cancer should start shrinking and eventually disappear.

The virus should then circulate through the body, finding and killing off any other melanomas in the same manner, hopefully seeking out and killing skin cancers that may be undetectable.

Skin cancer is the nation's costliest cancer - in 2002, associated annual costs were estimated to have reached $300 million.'

Lidia