Background Talimogene laherparepvec, an investigational oncolytic immunotherapy, is a modified herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) designed to selectively replicate in tumors and to initiate a systemic immune response to target cancer cells. Intralesional administration of talimogene laherparepvec is intended to result in oncolysis within injected tumors, with lytic cell destruction promoting t...

Head and neck cancers usually present with advanced disease and novel therapies are urgently needed. Genetic therapy aims at restoring malfunctioned tumor suppressor gene(s) or introducing proapoptotic genes. Oncolytic virotherapeutics induce multiple cycles of cancer-specific virus replication, followed by oncolysis, virus spreading and infection of adjacent cancer cells. Oncolytic viruses can...

Mammalian reovirus is a benign virus that possesses the natural ability to preferentially infect and kill cancer cells (reovirus oncolysis). Reovirus exploits aberrant Ras signalling in many human cancers to promote its own replication and spread. In vitro and in vivo studies using reovirus either singly or in combination with anti-cancer drugs have shown very encouraging results. Presently, a ...

In the last decade, we have gained significant understanding of the mechanism by which vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) specifically kills cancer cells. Dysregulation of translation and defective innate immunity are both thought to contribute to VSV oncolysis. Safety and efficacy are important objectives to consider in evaluating VSV as a therapy for malignant disease. Ongoing efforts may enab...

Although the literature contains many refer ences to successful attempts to immunize animals against transplantable tumors, few deal with transplantable spontaneous tumors in inbred strains, and, in general, the results of these latter experiments have been negative. Aptekman and his co-workers (1-3), in a series of studies with an alcohol-soluble extract of methylcholanthrene-induced transplan...