(NewsNation) — Respiratory infections like COVID-19 and the flu can activate dormant cancer cells in breast cancer patients who are in remission, new research finds.

The study, published in Nature, found that common viruses can reawaken small numbers of dormant breast cancer cells in the lungs.

Researchers began investigating the link after the team noticed that U.K. patients who were in remission from breast cancer and tested positive for COVID later showed a two-fold increase in cancer-related deaths.

They also analyzed a U.S. database that included nearly 37,000 patients and found that COVID infection was associated with a more than 40% increased risk of metastatic breast cancer in the lungs.

Studies on mice found that influenza and COVID infections triggered dormant breast cancer c

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