Strategies for Advanced Oncolytic Virotherapy: Current Technology Innovations and Clinical Approaches
Qing Ji,
Yuchen Wu,
Andreas Albers,
Meiyu Fang,
Xu Qian
Affiliations
Qing Ji
Department of Rare and Head & Neck Oncology, Key Laboratory of Head & Neck Cancer Translational Research of Zhejiang Province, The Cancer Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Zhejiang Cancer Hospital), Institute of Basic Medicine and Cancer (IBMC), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou 310022, China
Yuchen Wu
Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Cancer Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Zhejiang Cancer Hospital), Institute of Basic Medicine and Cancer (IBMC), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou 310022, China
Andreas Albers
Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Berlin Institute of Health, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 13353 Berlin, Germany
Meiyu Fang
Department of Rare and Head & Neck Oncology, Key Laboratory of Head & Neck Cancer Translational Research of Zhejiang Province, The Cancer Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Zhejiang Cancer Hospital), Institute of Basic Medicine and Cancer (IBMC), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou 310022, China
Xu Qian
Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Cancer Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Zhejiang Cancer Hospital), Institute of Basic Medicine and Cancer (IBMC), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou 310022, China
Oncolytic virotherapy is a type of nanomedicine with a dual antitumor mechanism. Viruses are engineered to selectively infect and lyse cancer cells directly, leading to the release of soluble antigens which induce systemic antitumor immunity. Representative drug Talimogene laherparepvec has showed promising therapeutic effects in advanced melanoma, especially when combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors with moderate adverse effects. Diverse viruses like herpes simplex virus, adenovirus, vaccina virus, and so on could be engineered as vectors to express different transgenic payloads, vastly expanding the therapeutic potential of oncolytic virotherapy. A number of related clinical trials are under way which are mainly focusing on solid tumors. Studies about further optimizing the genome of oncolytic viruses or improving the delivering system are in the hotspot, indicating the future development of oncolytic virotherapy in the clinic. This review introduces the latest progress in clinical trials and pre-clinical studies as well as technology innovations directed at oncolytic viruses. The challenges and perspectives of oncolytic virotherapy towards clinical application are also discussed.
