New research from UVA Health’s Beirne B. Carter Center for Immunology Research and the UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center has suggested that severe viral infections can create serious conditions in the lungs helping the cancer cells to develop and progress more quickly. They also found that vaccination can prevent many harmful effects.
Study Led by UVA Scientists
The researchers were led by UVA School of Medicine Scientist Jie Sun. They discovered that severe respiratory infections can alter immune cells in the lungs, supporting tumor growth months or even years later.
Higher Lung Cancer Risk After Severe COVID-19
People who had previously been hospitalised with COVID-19 showed a higher rate of lung cancer diagnoses. They found a 1.24-fold increase in lung cancer incidences among patients who were hospitalised for COVID-19. In this study, the mice that experienced severe lung infections were more likely to develop lung cancer and were also more likely to die from the disease. These experiments in mice helped researchers in understanding why severe infections may increase lung cancer risk. The team of researchers observed major changes in immune cells which normally help defend the lungs.
Vaccination May Reduce the Risk
The study also provided encouraging findings that prior vaccination appears to block many of the lung changes linked to lung cancer development. The vaccination helped the immune system to respond effectively to infections.
Expert Insight on Monitoring Patients
“These findings have important immediate implications for how we monitor patients after severe respiratory viral infection,” said Jeffrey Sturek, MD, Ph.D., a UVA physician-scientist and collaborator on the project.
Implications for Future Lung Cancer Care
Sun and his team hope that their findings will help doctors to identify patients at risk for lung cancer so that treatment can be started at an early stage. Also, these newly insights into the biological changes brought by severe lung infections could lead to better improvements in lung cancer treatment.
The information shared in this blog is for educational purposes only. You should always consult with your healthcare professional for any medical needs.
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