Research for a life without cancer

Many people are infected with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and most are unaware of it. However, EBV can sometimes cause cancer, and this pathogen also appears to play an important role in multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases. Researchers at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Kidney Center at Heidelberg University Hospital have discovered that EBV increases the ability of infected immune cells to migrate. In this way, the pathogen promotes its spread in the body – a discovery that may have therapeutic implications.