NCI grant funds SMU research into cancer-causing viruses that hide from the immune system

(Southern Methodist University) The National Cancer Institute is funding research at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, into cancer-causing viruses that hide from the immune system. Genes common to both the human T-cell leukemia virus and high-risk human papillomaviruses activate survival mechanisms in cancer cells. SMU virologist and cancer researcher Robert Harrod leads his lab's effort to find ways to inhibit those genes to halt the development of cancer. The hope is to ultimately develop...