Coronavirus (COVID-19) may need to be 'treated like cancer' with infected cells destroyed

With coronavirus cases round the world now within the millions, scientists are desperately racing to seek out a treatment for the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

From using existing medications for malaria to developing a completely new vaccine, several different options are being checked out by teams round the world.

Now, one scientist claims that coronavirus may have to be ‘treated like cancer’, with infected cells destroyed.

Dr Kevan Shokat, a pharmacologist at the University of California, San Francisco , was pertaining to research that focuses on finding drugs that focus on host cells, instead of the virus itself.

Viruses believe host cells to duplicate , tricking our body’s cells into copying their viral genomes and making their viral proteins.

Dr Shokat suggests that selectively killing these host cells might be a simpler tactic at tackling the virus.

Speaking to The Atlantic, Dr Shokat said: “I think it’s far more sort of a cancer therapy.”

However, this tactic isn’t exactly straightforward.

According to Dr Shokat, developing a drug which will distinguish between healthy cells and people that are virus-hijacked is extremely complex.

Thankfully, initial studies suggest that this coronavirus doesn’t mutate as quickly as other viruses.

The Atlantic explained: “The excellent news about SARS-CoV-2, at least, is that it doesn't seem to mutate especially quickly for an epidemic . variety of various steps within the disease cycle might be lasting targets for a treatment.”

In the UK, the NHS is now approaching the height of the outbreak, with quite 900 deaths reported yesterday.

There are quite 1.5million cases recorded worldwide now, with approaching 90,000 deaths linked to the virus.