HIV is good for you: protects against cancer

“HIV protects against cancer and cannot cause AIDS” (2009/12/01) reported on a paper presented at the Annual Congress of the Italian Association of Cell Cultures by Ruggiero, Pacini, et al.: the HIV protein, VpR, induces selective killing of rapidly dividing cancer cells.

This pointed to a possibly symbiotic relation between HIV and the human genome, the anti-cancer action of HIV causing it to be selectively favored by evolutionary processes.
That evolution of mechanisms for warding off cancer may have been crucial elements in the evolution of higher organisms had been postulated also by James Graham.
Now there comes further support for this from an independent source. Hessol et al., “HIV tropism and decreased risk of breast cancer” [PLoS One, 16 December 2010, 5(12):e14349],  found that “breast cancer risk was significantly lower for women with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection compared to the general population. This deficit in HIV-associated breast cancer could not be attributed to differences in survival, immune deficiency, childbearing or other breast cancer risk factors” . It seems that “Low breast cancer risk with HIV is specifically linked to CXCR4-using variants of HIV”.
This is a different mechanism than that found by Ruggiero et al. Perhaps that explains why Hessol et al. don’t cite them or Graham, but a more probable reason is the explosive growth of publications about cancer and HIV, which makes it all but impossible to remain aware of all potentially relevant research.

HIV protects against cancer and cannot cause AIDS

That startling information was disseminated this week by Ruggiero, Punzi, Morucci and Pacini at the Annual Congress of the Italian Association of Cell Cultures (Italian branch of the European Association). A pdf of the program booklet is here; the Ruggiero abstract is at p. 17.

An HIV protein, VpR, detectable in the serum of HIV patients, “induces selective killing of rapidly dividing cancer cells”. HIV has been present in humans since at least the early 1900s and can hardly be responsible for AIDS, which first appeared around 1980. That, together with the cancer-killing propensity of the HIV protein VpR, suggests that a symbiotic relationship had been established between the human genome and HIV. In recent years, however, the tumor-killing activity of VpR may have been masked by the carcinogenic effect of HAART.

From Congress website:
1. Title of Ruggiero et al. presentation
2. Abstract
3. Full poster
4. Theme of Congress (Cell Death: physio-pathological and therapeutic implications) and sponsorship.
The meeting was hosted by the University of Firenze and sponsored also by the Ordine dei Medici, the only official organization that represents medical doctors and surgeons in Italy. Phoenix Foundation is a non-profit (“onlus”).
Since the full poster is too small to read from this screen shot, here is an easily readable version. Like the other presentations at the Congress, it had been accepted only after peer review.

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This complete documentation is provided because of the penchant AIDS groups and vigilantes have amply displayed in their attempts to denigrate or hide the overwhelming evidence that disproves HIV/AIDS theory. The Ruggiero presentation was accepted after peer review at a mainstream conference sponsored by impeccably authoritative institutions.

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The presentation by Ruggiero et al. not only brings the stunning news that “HIV” is protective against cancer, it also confirms the conclusion, perhaps most recently expressed by Montagnier, that HIV is readily fended off by robust immune systems: HIV is a passenger virus, a consequence and not a cause of immune deficiency.

This work reminded me of the suggestion by James Graham that the evolution of mechanisms for warding off cancer may have been crucial elements in the evolution of animals: see Graham’s website.