Oncolytic Virotherapy:
Researchers in the US have developed a novel strategy in Oncolytic Virotherapy (OV) to improve a cancer therapy that can kill tumour cells while leaving nearby healthy tissues intact.
- Earlier a Monoclonal Antibody trial was held in the USA, where 12 patients were completely cured of rectal cancer without requiring any surgery or chemotherapy.
- Oncolytic viruses can kill cancer cells while leaving nearby healthy cells and tissues intact.
- In oncolytic virotherapy, the treatment also exerts its influence by activating an antitumor immune response made of immune cells such as Natural Killer (NK) cells.
- However, sometimes those natural killers limit the oncolytic viruses, and so despite the exciting development in the OV field in recent years, there is room for improvement to tackle some limitations, including the relatively weak therapeutic activity and lack of means for effective systemic delivery.
- A region of the gene is deleted which shows to activate the signaling pathway that enables the virus to replicate in normal cells.
- It consists of a new oncolytic virus called FusOn-H2, based on the Herpes simplex 2 virus, (HSV-2), commonly known as genital herpes.
- Arming FusOn-H2 with a chimeric NK engager that can engage the infiltrated natural killer cells with tumour cells can significantly enhance the effectiveness of this virotherapy.
