Doctors Using Polio Virus To Treat Cancer

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Doctors are using the most unlikely weapon to fight cancer: the polio virus.

A modified version of the polio virus is now an immune system therapy, which is effective in treating deadly brain tumors.

Doctors conducting a study of 61 patients say the survival rate increased to 21 percent with the treatment, from just four percent with standard care.

The study by Duke University and the National Cancer Institute was recently published by the New England Journal of Medicine.

Cancer