Prostate Cancer is the second most common cancer in men.
Image source: US Nat’l Library of Medicine

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men, affecting one in six American males. But could it also be contagious?

New research indicates that prostate cancer may be among the twenty percent of human cancers associated with infectious disease.

Scientists at Columbia and the University of Utah examined 300 prostate cancer tissue samples and found a virus, known as XMVR, in 23 percent of them and in over 45 percent of the most aggressive cancers.

The virus, xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus, is similar to those that cause leukemias and sarcomas in cats, rodents and other primates, but this is the first time such a virus has been observed in malignant human prostate cells. Previous research has suggested that XMVR may be sexually transmitted.

This discovery could help scientists design new diagnostic tests and treatments for prostate cancer. It might even allow them to create a vaccine to protect against the disease.

Experts caution, however, that even if future research confirms a causal link, such new therapies would still be a long way off. “This is certainly an interesting discovery that requires further investigation,” said Dr. William Hahn, an oncologist and professor at Harvard Medical School, “But, as for the possibility of a vaccine, that would be quite premature at this point.”