News Daily Spot: Killed by Colombian human cancer no worries scientists

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Killed by Colombian human cancer no worries scientists

Thursday, news of the death of a man 41 years following a cancer caused by transmission of cancerous cells from a common parasite, which adheres to the walls of the small intestine in unsanitary settings, such as intake met Plant badly washed.

Time

This was confirmed by a scientific article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, authored by four doctors at the Bolivarian University Clinic  appear: Alicia Hidron, Lucy Diaz Granados, Alejandro Velez and Carlos Agudelo.

The latter, infectious, who was received in January 2013 the patient. It was an HIV-infected antiretroviral drugs had abandoned man was under fenders and had a fever and respiratory symptoms widespread.

During diagnosis, physicians found that the patient had cancer similar to the lung, liver and lymph injury, and quickly spread through the body.

However, somewhat taken aback by the medical and scientific staff of the clinic: it was cells of undetermined origin and 10 times smaller than human. "It seemed a matter of aliens" recalls Carlos, for whom the scientific dilemma was first a challenge and then address the lack of answers and the progress of the disease, became "difficult".



Doctors sought help from research centers in Medellin, Bogota, Mexico, Australia, Spain and the United States. Uncertainty remained until May, three days after the patient's death by the combination of kidney failure and toxicity that caused the drugs to low body defenses.

That month, a team from the Center for Disease Control (CDC, for its acronym in English) in Atlanta, gave a preliminary response. The patient's cells containing DNA Hymenolepis nana, a parasite that measures two to four centimeters long and adheres to the walls of the small intestine and infects about 75 million people worldwide, especially in developing countries.

CDC experts and Colombian physicians continued the investigation, which closed six months ago and was published this week with the following results: it is the first case studied in the cells of a parasite act as cancer in humans and destroy their tissues. "This is the first time we parasite cells derived from cancer spreading within an individual," notes a statement from the international publication.

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