Oncolytic Viruses as Cancer Immunotherapy Agents
A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 August 2022) | Viewed by 26787
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The clinical success of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) refocuses efforts back to leveraging the host immune system to eliminate cancer cells. However, the benefits of ICI therapy remain limited to a subset of patients. It has become clear that successful immunotherapy for advanced cancer needs to target multiple pathways to overcome complexities presented by these tumors. Oncolytic viruses (OVs) selectively replicate in and kill cancer cells either due to natural tumor tropism or genetic manipulation of the wild-type (WT) virus. Since viral infection triggers innate immune responses through various pattern recognition receptors, OVs themselves function as adjuvants, leading to immune stimulation and immune cell infiltration at tumor sites (“Cold” to “Hot” immune status) in addition to induction of immunogenic cell death through oncolysis. This results in the development of adaptive immune responses against cancer cells and the oncolytic virus.
Findings in preclinical and clinical studies indicate that immunostimulation through OV treatment contributes to antitumor effects. Thus, many studies have taken advantage of the transgene capacity of OVs to deliver immunomodulatory molecules to the tumor site to further augment host immune activation, targeting, destruction of tumor stromal components, and prolong immune cell persistence (“Armed” OVs). One “Armed” OV approved for use in the United States and Europe, talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC), is a herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)-based OV expressing human GM-CSF to additionally enhance antitumor immune responses.
Based on recent clinical outcomes with “Armed” OVs (e.g. T-VEC), OV approaches have garnered a lot of scientific and clinical interest as cancer immunotherapy agents. This Special Issue will highlight the current status of OVs undergoing both preclinical and clinical studies. Since durable clinical activity has recently been reported with OVs used in combinatorial approaches (e.g., chemotherapy, checkpoint inhibitor), we will also highlight combination strategies to maximize clinical outcomes using OVs.
Dr. Masataka Suzuki
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- oncolytic virus
- viro-immunotherapy
- antitumor immune response
- combination therapy with oncolytic virus
- preclinical model systems
- cancer immunotherapy