A new version of smallpox could be used in the fight against breast cancer, studies have revealed.
Tests show more than 90% of aggressive breast-cancer cells in mice injected with the virus were destroyed within four days.
The next step will be to discover how effective smallpox is in treating women suffering triple negative breast cancer – an aggressive form of the disease that affects up to 20% of sufferers.
It is particularly common in under-35s.
Dr Sepideh Gholami, of Stanford University, California, said the virus infected and broke down cancer cells.
She said of the tests: “We could see 60% of the tumours were completely regressed and the other 40% had very little areas of tumour cells.”
Breast Cancer Campaign chief Baroness Delyth Morgan said: “This is a new therapy using viruses to attack cancer cells
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