LOS ANGELES - Infections like influenza and COVID-19 may do more than cause temporary illness. A new study suggests they can also "wake up" dormant cancer cells, potentially increasing the risk of recurrence and metastasis years after treatment.

The research, led by Dr. James DeGregori at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, was published July 30 in Nature . Scientists tested how respiratory viruses affect dormant cancer cells using mouse models of breast cancer, and then compared those findings with large patient health datasets.

How respiratory viruses reawaken dormant cancer cells

Cancer cells can sometimes break away from the original tumor and linger quietly in other parts of the body for years, a state researchers call dormancy. What causes them to reawaken has

See Full Page