http://tinyurl.com/dfbcu PARIS - New research suggests that infection with bacteria from the Chlamydia family may play a role in the development of a type of lymphoma that affects the tissue around the eye, raising hopes that antibiotics may one day prove to be an alternative to chemotherapy or radiation.
The study, presented Monday at the European Cancer Conference, is the latest to link infection with cancer, following the establishment of the human papilloma virus as the major cause of cervical cancer and the bacteria Helicobacter pylori as a cause of stomach cancer.
"This is sensational," said Dr. Dieter Hossfeld, a professor of oncology at the University of Hamburg, Germany, who was not involved with the research.
snip.................
The bacteria in question, Chlamydia psittaci, can be contracted from infected birds such as parrots. Scientists also suspect it can come from household cats because they also carry it. Chlamydia psittaci is known to cause a lung infection called psittacosis.