Oncolytic virus

An oncolytic virus is a virus that preferentially infects and kills cancer cells. As the infected cancer cells are destroyed by oncolysis, they release new infectious virus particles or virions to help destroy the remaining tumour.[1][2] Oncolytic viruses are thought not only to cause direct destruction of the tumour cells, but also to stimulate host anti-tumour immune system responses.[3][4] Oncolytic viruses also have the ability to affect the tumor micro-environment in multiple ways.[5][6]

The potential of viruses as anti-cancer agents was first realised in the early twentieth century, although coordinated research efforts did not begin until the 1960s.[7] A number of viruses including adenovirus, reovirus, measles, herpes simplex, Newcastle disease virus, and vaccinia have been clinically tested as oncolytic agents.[8] Most current oncolytic viruses are engineered for tumour selectivity, although there are naturally occurring examples such as reovirus and the senecavirus,[9] resulting in clinical trials.[10]

The first oncolytic virus to be approved by a national regulatory agency was genetically unmodified ECHO-7 strain enterovirus RIGVIR, which was approved in Latvia in 2004 for the treatment of skin melanoma;[11] the approval was withdrawn in 2019. An oncolytic adenovirus, a genetically modified adenovirus named H101, was approved in China in 2005 for the treatment of head and neck cancer.[12] In 2015, talimogene laherparepvec (OncoVex, T-VEC), an oncolytic herpes virus which is a modified herpes simplex virus, became the first oncolytic virus to be approved for use in the United States and the European Union, for the treatment of advanced inoperable melanoma.[13]

On December 16, 2022, the Food and Drug Administration approved nadofaragene firadenovec-vncg (Adstiladrin, Ferring Pharmaceuticals) for adult patients with high-risk Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) with carcinoma in situ (CIS) with or without papillary tumors. [14]

  1. ^ Ferguson MS, Lemoine NR, Wang Y (2012). "Systemic delivery of oncolytic viruses: hopes and hurdles". Advances in Virology. 2012: 1–14. doi:10.1155/2012/805629. PMC 3287020. PMID 22400027.
  2. ^ Casjens S (2010). "Oncolytic virus". In Mahy BW, Van Regenmortel MH (eds.). Desk Encyclopedia of General Virology. Boston: Academic Press. p. 167. ISBN 978-0-12-375146-1.
  3. ^ Melcher A, Parato K, Rooney CM, Bell JC (June 2011). "Thunder and lightning: immunotherapy and oncolytic viruses collide". Molecular Therapy. 19 (6): 1008–16. doi:10.1038/mt.2011.65. PMC 3129809. PMID 21505424.
  4. ^ Lichty BD, Breitbach CJ, Stojdl DF, Bell JC (August 2014). "Going viral with cancer immunotherapy". Nature Reviews. Cancer. 14 (8): 559–67. doi:10.1038/nrc3770. PMID 24990523. S2CID 15182671.
  5. ^ De Silva, Naomi; Atkins, Harold; Kirn, David H.; Bell, John C.; Breitbach, Caroline J. (1 April 2010). "Double trouble for tumours: Exploiting the tumour microenvironment to enhance anticancer effect of oncolytic viruses". Cytokine & Growth Factor Reviews. Recent Advances in the Development of Oncolytic Viruses as Cancer Therapeutics. 21 (2): 135–141. doi:10.1016/j.cytogfr.2010.02.007. ISSN 1359-6101. PMID 20338801.
  6. ^ "Using Viruses to Treat Cancer | Science-Based Medicine". sciencebasedmedicine.org. 28 September 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  7. ^ Alemany R (March 2013). "Viruses in cancer treatment". Clinical & Translational Oncology. 15 (3): 182–8. doi:10.1007/s12094-012-0951-7. PMID 23143950. S2CID 6123610.
  8. ^ Donnelly OG, Errington-Mais F, Prestwich R, Harrington K, Pandha H, Vile R, Melcher AA (July 2012). "Recent clinical experience with oncolytic viruses". Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology. 13 (9): 1834–41. doi:10.2174/138920112800958904. PMID 21740364.
  9. ^ Roberts MS, Lorence RM, Groene WS, Bamat MK (August 2006). "Naturally oncolytic viruses". Current Opinion in Molecular Therapeutics. 8 (4): 314–21. PMID 16955694.
  10. ^ Rudin CM, Poirier JT, Senzer NN, Stephenson J, Loesch D, Burroughs KD, Reddy PS, Hann CL, Hallenbeck PL (February 2011). "Phase I clinical study of Seneca Valley Virus (SVV-001), a replication-competent picornavirus, in advanced solid tumors with neuroendocrine features". Clinical Cancer Research. 17 (4): 888–95. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-10-1706. PMC 5317273. PMID 21304001.
  11. ^ "Rigvir šķīdums injekcijām". Medicinal product register of the Republic of Latvia. 29 April 2004. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  12. ^ Frew SE, Sammut SM, Shore AF, Ramjist JK, Al-Bader S, Rezaie R, Daar AS, Singer PA (January 2008). "Chinese health biotech and the billion-patient market". Nature Biotechnology. 26 (1): 37–53. doi:10.1038/nbt0108-37. PMC 7096943. PMID 18183014.
  13. ^ Broderick J (29 April 2015). "FDA Panels Support Approval of T-VEC in Melanoma". OncLive. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  14. ^ Research, Center for Drug Evaluation and (29 December 2022). "FDA approves first adenoviral vector-based gene therapy for high-risk Bacillus Calmette-Guérin unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer". FDA.