Research on humans could take place in the next four years (Picture: Getty)

Malaria could hold the key to a cure for cancer, research has revealed.

A team of scientists accidentally stumbled across the breakthrough while looking into ways to fight malaria in pregnant women.

Dutch and Canadian experts claim the carbohydrate that the malaria parasite attaches itself to in the placenta of pregnant women is identical to a carbohydrate found in cancer cells.

Ali Salanti from University of Copenhagen said: ‘For decades, scientists have been searching for similarities between the growth of a placenta and a tumor.


MORE: Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Don’t ignore your screening letter – my mum’s saved her life

‘The placenta is an organ, which within a few months grows from only few cells into an organ weighing approx. two pounds, and it provides the embryo with oxygen and nourishment in a relatively foreign environment.



‘In a manner of speaking, tumors do much the same, they grow aggressively in a relatively foreign environment.’

MORE: How to check your breasts for signs of cancer

The team created a malaria protein mixed with a toxin which targets cancer cells.

The cancer cells adsorb it and the malaria kills the cancer.

It is hoped tests can be carried out on humans in the next four years – and experiments on mice with cancer are already underway.

MORE: Breast cancer survivors share their extremely moving confessions