Cancer and cell wall deficient bacteria.
Since the 1920's, a small number of researchers have been quite regularly isolating highly pleomorphic bacteria from the blood and tumors of humans and animals with cancer. These bacteria show characteristics of cell wall deficient bacteria, and can apparently be observed regularly in the blood of cancer patients by darkfield microscopy. Cancer appears to be induced by injecting these bacteria into experimental animals, and some forms of cancer can be prevented by prevaccination with killed bacteria, isolated from experimental animals affected with the specific cancer. The bacteria regularly produce a protein ressembling chorionic gonadotropin hormone, a substance which appears to protect trophoblastic and cancer cells from immune recognition. There is some evidence that a plasmid may be responsible for this property, and even that these bacteria may in some manner be intimately associated with retroviruses. Further studies are proposed to clarify the role these bacteria play in cancer.
Department of Pathology, University of South Florida School of Medicine, Tampa.
P B
PB
Macomber
D000818:Animals; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*