Covid-19 and Flu Linked to Reactivation of Dormant Lung Cancer Cells

Quick Summary

• A new study indicates that respiratory viruses, such as flu and COVID-19, may trigger the growth of dormant cancer cells in the lungs through inflammation.
• Dormant cancer cells can lie inactive at secondary sites for years before proliferating into detectable tumors.
• Experiments on mice showed a 100-fold increase in lung cancer cells after infection with H1N1 (swine flu) and a 10-fold increase after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Uninfected mice showed no such changes.
• Elevated levels of an inflammatory molecule called IL-6 appear to drive this proliferation by reawakening dormant cancer cells without increasing their migration to the lungs.
• Infections caused transient tumor cell growth, but induced genetic changes linked to tumor metastasis even after the immune response subsided.
• Health records from 36,800 U.S.-based women diagnosed with breast cancer prior to the pandemic suggest higher rates of secondary lung cancers among those infected by COVID-19 during its initial years; more research is needed due to testing limitations during that period.
• Researchers propose vaccination against common respiratory viruses as an crucial preventive measure for cancer survivors.

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