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CIA Declassifies 1951 Soviet Study Linking Parasites to Tumors

4/24/2026

Summary

**CIA Releases Study**

In February 1951 the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) summarized and translated Prof. V. V. Alpatov’s October 1950 Soviet paper linking parasites and tumors.
The document (CIA-RDP80-00809A000600380033-3) was declassified and released in 2011.
Alpatov argued that parasites and tumors survive low-oxygen conditions using similar anaerobic metabolism and glycogen stores.
The CIA’s scanning of research for strategic value contrasts with modern science’s view that cancer stems from genetic mutations, not infection.

Summary

**Scientists Uncover Parallel**

Atebrin tests found tumor tissue and parasitic worms responded better to the dextrorotatory enantiomer, unlike healthy cells.
Lucanthone, synthesized in 1938 by H. Mauss for schistosomiasis, later showed modest anti-tumor activity.
Alpatov and O. K. Nastyukova interpreted the receptor inversion as evidence of biochemical parallels between cancer and parasites.
Soviet scientists Zbarsky and Orekhovich pursued tumor-specific proteins, a pathway now cited in molecular-mimicry cancer-immunotherapy.

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**CIA Releases Study**

In February 1951 the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) summarized and translated Prof. V. V. Alpatov’s October 1950 Soviet paper linking parasites and tumors.
The document (CIA-RDP80-00809A000600380033-3) was declassified and released in 2011.
Alpatov argued that parasites and tumors survive low-oxygen conditions using similar anaerobic metabolism and glycogen stores.
The CIA’s scanning of research for strategic value contrasts with modern science’s view that cancer stems from genetic mutations, not infection.

1 / 2