Covid and flu can awaken ‘sleeping’ cancer cells, scientists find
Link between flu and Covid-19 with cancer revealed
- New research suggests that respiratory viruses, including Covid-19 and influenza, can awaken dormant cancer cells and cause them to multiply and spread.
- Experiments on mice demonstrated that infection with these viruses led to a rapid expansion of metastatic cells in the lungs, with the inflammatory protein interleukin-6 (IL-6) identified as a key factor.
- Two human population studies, utilising data from the UK Biobank and the US Flatiron Health database, corroborated these findings.
- One study revealed that cancer patients who contracted Covid-19 faced an almost doubled risk of cancer-related mortality compared to those who did not.
- The research indicates that cancer survivors may be at an increased risk of metastatic relapse after common respiratory viral infections, underscoring the importance of precautions such as vaccination.