United virus: the oncolytic tag-team against cancer!

Abstract

There is an urgent need for innovative therapeutic strategies to treat aggressive metastatic cancers that are incurable with standard therapeutic approaches. Novel treatment strategies like oncolytic virotherapy have led, in some cases, to impressive effects on disease progression in human trials, suggesting that approval of an oncolytic virus therapeutic is on the horizon. While combinations of oncolytic viruses with small molecules are already being tested and have shown promise, we propose that even greater therapeutic synergies could be achieved through rational design of complementary virus therapeutics. In this review, we discuss rational chemical and biological combination strategies to enhance oncolytic virotherapy highlighting the promising combination of vaccinia and vesicular stomatitis oncolytic viruses.

• Authors: Fabrice Le Boeuf, John C Bell
• Journal: Cytokine & growth factor reviews (Cytokine Growth Factor Rev) 2010 Apr-Jun Vol. 21 Issue 2-3 Pg. 205-11 ISSN: 1879-0305 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 20227326 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)
• Copyright: 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Topics

• Animals
• Humans
• Neoplasms (genetics, pathology, therapy, virology)
• Oncolytic Virotherapy (methods)
• Oncolytic Viruses
• Vaccinia virus (genetics, physiology)
• Vesiculovirus (genetics, physiology)