The presence of SV40 in a cancer can have a dramatic impact in the efficacy of standard cancer therapies and may actually be a factor in stopping these treatments from providing a cure.

It is well documented that SV40 binds with tumor suppressor genes p53 and RB. These genes and their proteins are needed to drive a damaged cell towards apoptosis – programmed cell death. Apoptosis is a critical cellular function that stops the growth of tumors in man. (That is why they are called tumor suppressor genes.)

Cell-killing or cytotoxic therapies like chemotherapy and radiation utilize apoptosis. These therapies cause cellular DNA damage such as point mutations, strand breaks, and other disturbances to a cell’s DNA. This DNA damage, in turn, triggers the apoptosis which leads to cell death. In this way, chemo and radiation kill cells (cancer cells and healthy cells). However, when the large T antigen (Tag) of SV40 is present in a cancer cell it binds p53 and RB and stops these genes from working. There is no apoptosis. The result is that chemo and radiation kill healthy cells, but the cancerous cells infected with SV40’s Tag live on with even more mutations. This means that standard cancer therapies may only make a SV40 cancer more abnormal and aggressive and less responsive to standard cytotoxic therapies.

Knowing this, you would think that a patient who is diagnosed with a cancer associated with SV40 (i.e. brain cancers, mesothelioma, bone cancers, Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, and thyroid cancers) would have their cancer tested for the presence of this virus. And, if the virus is present, the patient would be offered rational therapies. Unfortunately, this is not the case. There are no prospective tests or trials in which SV40 status is used in clinical decision-making. Instead, tumors are tested often after a patient has died to determine whether it contained SV40. At this point, there is no benefit to the patient.

Why is this the current situation? There are many reasons, but the biggest one is that SV40 is a problem that federal government authorities have not addressed responsibly because the government’s own vaccine programs are responsible for the spread of the virus throughout the western world. Federal authorities are so concerned about being blamed for unleashing a cancer-causing monkey virus that they would rather ignore its role in cancer than take the appropriate steps to develop rational therapies. 

The bottom-line is that there is no treatment for SV40 positive cancers and if your cancer has SV40 it may be even less responsive to standard cancer treatments.  To find out if you or your cancer is infected with SV40 click here.