Blastocystis Research Foundation

Blastocystis 'hominis' News

March 25, 2011: Research publish complete genome sequence of Blastocystis

March 23, 2011: Culinary herbs common in Southeast Asian cooking inhibit growth of Blastocystis in-vitro

February 12, 2011: Diagnostic methods commonly used in laboratories fail to identify most Blastocystis infections

January 17, 2011: US FDA researchers report on new assay for Blastocystis

November 18, 2010: BRF co-authors study on detection of Blastocystis in samples from patients with inflammatory bowel disease and IBS

March 4, 2010: Rats infected with Blastocystis exhibit high levels of oxidative stress in a new paper from Parasitology Research

February 10, 2010: Are any of the antiprotozoal drugs really eradicating Blastocystis 'hominis' infection in patients? A recent review: "Eradication of Blastocystis carriage with antimicrobials: reality or delusion?" says they may not be working.

February 9, 2010: Patients with ulcerative colitis are more likely to experience a relapse in illness if they are infected with Blastocystis and other protozoa

January 15, 2010: BRF co-authors the world's first report on subtyping of Blastocystis 'hominis' isolates from Egypt

Older News

NOTE: The correct term is now Blastocystis not Blastocystis 'hominis' as there is no Blastocystis unique to humans.

July 21, 2009. Cancer and Infectious Diseases. Most advances in the prevention of cancer are now coming from infectious disease groups. It turns out that most cervical cancer comes from the virus that causes genital warts. Stomach cancer comes from a bacteria. Liver cancer comes from a virus.

This idea is not new - as early as 1998, researchers were noting the trend in identifying infectious causes of cancer, as described in an article in the CDC's journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases.

This trend can be seen in Nobel Prize awards since 2005. Five individuals have received prizes for identifying infectious causes for chronic diseases which are linked to cancer:

2005: Dr. Robin Warren and Dr. Barry Marshall for identifying a bacteria called Helicobacter pylori, a cause of stomach cancer and stomach ulcers.

2008: Dr. Francoise Barré-Sinoussi and Dr. Luc Montagnier from the Pasteur Institute in France for discovering HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and also the cancer Kaposis Sarcoma. Incidentally, another virus in the same family causes a rare blood cancer.

2008: Dr. Harald zur Hausen from Germany for his work on the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and linking it to cervical cancer, along with the development of a vaccine which prevents both HPV infection and the cancer.

Several cancers of the digestive system have been linked to viruses as well, including liver cancer and pancreatic cancer.