Can shingles stop cancer?

There has been a considerable amount of optimistic research in the past few years about oncolytic viruses (viruses that infect and kill cancer cells without effecting healthy tissue) having great potential for cancer therapy. To my knowledge there haven't been any studies about whether the varicella / herpes zoster virus which causes both chickenpox and shingles has any effectiveness with brain cancer treatment, but my knowledge about this subject is limited. John Hopkins has a viral oncology center that has been studying the association between herpesviruses and cancer.

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/kimmel_cancer_cente...

Most likely, it's merely a coincidence that your daughter's wonderful news about her cancer no longer progressing came after her experience with shingles. As explained in answers above, being in treatment for cancer or having a history of some types of cancer can make you more susceptible to shingles. I'm in remission for Hodgkin's Lymphoma and am just now recovering from a viscous attack of shingles earlier this month. It is possible that there is a correlation between her brain cancer and shingles, though. The varicella zoster virus that causes shingles is a neurotropic virus, so it's conceivable it would have an effect on cranial nerves. Another interesting connection is the involvement of the spinal cord and the behaviorisms of shingles and oligodendroglioma. In order to have shingles you have to have first had chicken pox and contracted the VZV. Once you have the virus, it lies dormant in the nerve tissue near your spinal cord, oftentimes for decades, and then one day can become active and manifest as shingles. The virus first attacks the sensory fibers of the nerve, which is what causes the pain and tenderness prior to the blisters. If I'm remembering high school biology correctly (and it's possible that I'm not because my brain is now fatigued after two four-hour finals today), astrocytoma is a glioma of the astrocytes that provide the connecting network of the brain and spinal cord. Oligodendroglioma is developed by oligodendrocytes (glial cells) that produce the fatty covering of nerve cells in the brain spazzing out. Studies have linked oligodendroglioma with a viral cause, though they haven't been able to identify the responsible viruses. You sort of have to do a game of Twister to make any connections between the gliomas and the vzv virus, and even with the connection, it doesn't mean there's a causation.

I don't view your curiosity about this as questioning fantastic news about your daughter's health, nor do I think it's coming in from left field. Some of the most significant medical advances in history have been from flukes and someone connecting dots others hadn't. Last month the monumental news about a toddler serendipitously being cured of HIV made headlines. It's possible that this information about your daughter could be useful to cancer researchers studying oncolytic virotherapy. You wouldn't be expending that much of your time or effort to contact of them. It would be free of cost. I'd start with John Hopkins. Dr. Sepideh Gholami at Stanford lead a researching team to see if a relative of small pox virus known as vaccinia virus could helps treat triple negative breast cancer. This could be of interest to her as well. Do a bit of research into other doctors / researchers conducting similar studies in oncolytic virotherapy and see if you could get in touch with them. http://cancer.osu.edu/research/cancerresearch/rese...

http://www.dfhcc.harvard.edu/membership/profile/me...

The best that can happen is that your daughter's long illness will have contributed to better understanding the correlation between the VZV and brain cancer, and perhaps even a treatment one day. The worst that can happen is that they'll say that your daughter has just had a random stroke of well-deserved fortune after shingles.

I'm hoping this is helpful to you. I'm writing it half-asleep and fully exhausted post finals for the quarter, so I'm sorry if it's not straightforward. Hopefully the links will be more useful than my gibberish.

Best wishes to you both.

~ skylark : )

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Shingles And Cancer

I had Shingles for the first time a few weeks ago. I am normally in good health and haven't had any other health challenges before, so it came as a surprise.

Shingles is probably the most painful thing I have ever encountered. I went to the doctor, and he gave me some prescription drugs to take that was suposed to help, but didn't.

My wife found the Fast Shingles Cure ebook online and bought it for me, I am very lucky to have such a wonderful woman in my life. We followed the book, did what it said, and it delivered what it promised. Finally my Shingles rash is over... I feel truly blessed and thankful.

The #1 Shingles Treatment Method Available

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It's possible it's temporarily stopped advancing, but not from shingles. Nobody has radiation for two years. What was she diagnosed with?

I had basically the same, mixed astro/oligo, grade (not stage) 3. Standard treatment is 6 weeks radiation. I know some who are still living after multiple regrowths and surgeries. It's gone or stablizes for a while then starts growing again.2012 wasn't that long ago...

Shingles In The Brain

it's probably a coincidence. and people with cancer actually have a higher risk of getting shingles cuz of lower immune system.

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