Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2008 Oct;8(10):1581-8.
doi: 10.1586/14737140.8.10.1581.

Oncolytic viruses: a novel form of immunotherapy

Robin J Prestwich  1 , Kevin J Harrington, Hardev S Pandha, Richard G Vile, Alan A Melcher, Fiona Errington
Affiliations
Review

Oncolytic viruses: a novel form of immunotherapy

Robin J Prestwich et al. Expert Rev Anticancer Ther. 2008 Oct.

Abstract

Oncolytic viruses are novel anticancer agents, currently under investigation in Phase I-III clinical trials. Until recently, most studies have focused on the direct antitumor properties of these viruses, although there is now an increasing body of evidence that the host immune response may be critical to the efficacy of oncolytic virotherapy. This may be mediated via innate immune effectors, adaptive antiviral immune responses eliminating infected cells or adaptive antitumor immune responses. This report summarizes preclinical and clinical evidence for the importance of immune interactions, which may be finely balanced between viral and tumor elimination. On this basis, oncolytic viruses represent a promising novel immunotherapy strategy, which may be optimally combined with existing therapeutic modalities.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Concept of how oncolytic viral infection of tumor cells may lead to the generation of antitumor immune responses
NK: Natural killer; TAA: Tumor-associated antigen; TLR: Toll-like receptor.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aghi M, Martuza RL. Oncolytic viral therapies – the clinical experience. Oncogene. 2005;24(52):7802–7816. - PubMed
    1. Parato KA, Senger D, Forsyth PA, Bell JC. Recent progress in the battle between oncolytic viruses and tumours. Nat. Rev. Cancer. 2005;5(12):965–976. - PubMed
    1. Kirn D. Clinical research results with dl1520 (Onyx-015), a replication-selective adenovirus for the treatment of cancer: what have we learned? Gene Ther. 2001;8(2):89–98. - PubMed
    1. Prestwich RJ, Errington F, Hatfield P, et al. The immune system – is it relevant to cancer development, progression and treatment? Clin. Oncol. (R. Coll. Radiol.) 2008;20(2):101–112. - PubMed
    1. Novellino L, Castelli C, Parmiani G. A listing of human tumor antigens recognized by T cells: March 2004 update. Cancer Immunol. Immunother. 2005;54(3):187–207. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types