Could this virus cure cancer?

Australian scientists are leading a global charge to combat one of the world's worst killers with a surprising secret weapon - the common cold.

It's a tempting idea and one on the cutting edge of a new medical research field called oncolytic virotherapy. Could the common cold cure cancer?

Except that the idea is not really new at all. The classical Greek physician Hippocrates is often credited with the saying: ''Give me the power to create a fever and I shall cure any disease.''

More than 2500 years later modern scientists, including a team from the University of Newcastle, are proving the theory has merit.

Common viruses have become the latest weapon against cancer, with a small Australian biotechnology group one of the leaders in the field.

The idea has been around for some time. Not only did the classical Greeks make the observation but there have been a couple of instances of cancer patients entering spontaneous remission after exposure to certain viruses in the last century.

[Click here to read full article]