FAQs
1. How are oncolytic viruses typically administered to patients?
Oncolytic viruses can be administered in several ways, including direct injection into the tumor for localized cancers (such as T-VEC for melanoma) or through an intravenous (IV) drip for systemic delivery to target metastatic sites.
2. How are oncolytic viruses different from viruses used in vaccines?
Viruses used in vaccines are typically inactivated or weakened to provoke an immune response without causing disease. In contrast, oncolytic viruses are specifically engineered to replicate and spread only within cancer cells, actively destroying them while also stimulating the immune system.
3. How is the effectiveness of oncolytic virus therapy measured?
The effectiveness is measured through various clinical indicators, including a reduction in tumor size, the complete disappearance of the tumor, and overall improvement in patient survival rates. Researchers also monitor the patient’s immune markers and the virus’s replication within the tumor.
Reference
1. Russell, S. J., Peng, K. W., & Bell, J. C. (2012). Oncolytic virotherapy. Nature biotechnology, 30(7), 658-670.
2. Ferguson, M. S., Lemoine, N. R., & Wang, Y. (2012). Systemic delivery of oncolytic viruses: hopes and hurdles. Advances in virology, 2012(1), 805629.
3. Ajam-Hosseini, M., Akhoondi, F., & Doroudian, M. (2023). Nano based-oncolytic viruses for cancer therapy. Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology, 185, 103980.
4. Kaufman, H. L., Kohlhapp, F. J., & Zloza, A. (2015). Oncolytic viruses: a new class of immunotherapy drugs. Nature Reviews. Drug Discovery, 14(9), 642.
5. Matveeva, O. V., & Chumakov, P. M. (2018). Defects in interferon pathways as potential biomarkers of sensitivity to oncolytic viruses. Reviews in medical virology, 28(6), e2008.
6. Rivera-Orellana, S., Bautista, J., Palacios-Zavala, D., et al. (2025). Oncolytic virotherapy and tumor microenvironment modulation. Clinical and Experimental Medicine, 25(1), 256.
7. Davola, M. E., & Mossman, K. L. (2019). Oncolytic viruses: how “lytic” must they be for therapeutic efficacy?. Oncoimmunology, 8(6), e1581528.
8. Schraml, B. U., & e Sousa, C. R. (2015). Defining dendritic cells. Current opinion in immunology, 32, 13-20.
9. Sun, L., Su, Y., Jiao, A., et al. (2023). T cells in health and disease. Signal transduction and targeted therapy, 8(1), 235.
10. Wang, R., Zhou, T., Liu, W., et al. (2018). Molecular mechanism of bystander effects and related abscopal/cohort effects in cancer therapy. Oncotarget, 9(26), 18637.
11. Kumar, A., Taghi Khani, A., Sanchez Ortiz, A., et al. (2022). GM-CSF: a double-edged sword in cancer immunotherapy. Frontiers in immunology, 13, 901277.
12. Apolonio, J. S., de Souza Gonçalves, V. L., Santos, M. L. C., et al. (2021). Oncolytic virus therapy in cancer: A current review. World journal of virology, 10(5), 229.
13. Russell, L., & Peng, K. W. (2018). The emerging role of oncolytic virus therapy against cancer. Chinese clinical oncology, 7(2), 16.
14. Xu, L., Sun, H., Lemoine, N. R., et al. (2024). Oncolytic vaccinia virus and cancer immunotherapy. Frontiers in Immunology, 14, 1324744.
15. Phillips, M. B., Stuart, J. D., Rodríguez Stewart, et al. (2018). Current understanding of reovirus oncolysis mechanisms. Oncolytic virotherapy, 7, 53-63.
16. Msaouel, P., Opyrchal, M., Dispenzieri, A., et al. (2018). Clinical trials with oncolytic measles virus: current status and future prospects. Current cancer drug targets, 18(2), 177-187.
17. Brown, M. C., & Gromeier, M. (2015). Oncolytic immunotherapy through tumor-specific translation and cytotoxicity of poliovirus. Discovery medicine, 19(106), 359.
18. Howells, A., Marelli, G., Lemoine, N. R., et al. (2017). Oncolytic viruses—interaction of virus and tumor cells in the battle to eliminate cancer. Frontiers in oncology, 7, 195.
19. Song, D., Jia, X., Liu, X., et al. (2022). Identification of the receptor of oncolytic virus M1 as a therapeutic predictor for multiple solid tumors. Signal transduction and targeted therapy, 7(1), 100.
20. Zhang, Y., Li, Y., Chen, K., et al. (2021). Oncolytic virotherapy reverses the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and its potential in combination with immunotherapy. Cancer Cell International, 21(1), 262.
21. Ottolino-Perry, K., Diallo, J. S., Lichty, B. D., et al. (2010). Intelligent design: combination therapy with oncolytic viruses. Molecular Therapy, 18(2), 251-263.
22. Lauer, U. M., & Beil, J. (2022). Oncolytic viruses: challenges and considerations in an evolving clinical landscape. Future Oncology, 18(24), 2713-2732.
23. Ferguson, M. S., Lemoine, N. R., & Wang, Y. (2012). Systemic delivery of oncolytic viruses: hopes and hurdles. Advances in virology, 2012(1), 805629.
24. Alizadeh, A. A., Aranda, V., Bardelli, A., et al. (2015). Toward understanding and exploiting tumor heterogeneity. Nature medicine, 21(8), 846-853.
25. Reddy, R., Yan, S. C., Segherlou, Z. H., et al. (2023). Oncolytic viral therapy: A review and promising future directions. Journal of Neurosurgery, 140(2), 319-327.
26. Yan, Z., Zhang, Z., Chen, Y., et al. (2024). Enhancing cancer therapy: the integration of oncolytic virus therapy with diverse treatments. Cancer Cell International, 24(1), 242.
27. Shalhout, S. Z., Miller, D. M., Emerick, K. S., et al. (2023). Therapy with oncolytic viruses: progress and challenges. Nature reviews Clinical oncology, 20(3), 160-177.
28. Fernandes, R. P., Göbel, S., Reiter, M., et al. (2025). Streamlining the purification of a clinical-grade oncolytic virus for therapeutic applications. Separation and Purification Technology, 354, 128769.
29. Ausubel, L. J., Meseck, M., Derecho, I., et al. (2011). Current good manufacturing practice production of an oncolytic recombinant vesicular stomatitis viral vector for cancer treatment. Human gene therapy, 22(4), 489-497.
30. Jhawar, S. R., Thandoni, A., Bommareddy, P. K., et al. (2017). Oncolytic viruses—natural and genetically engineered cancer immunotherapies. Frontiers in Oncology, 7, 202.
31. Zheng, M., Huang, J., Tong, A., et al. (2019). Oncolytic viruses for cancer therapy: barriers and recent advances. Molecular Therapy-Oncolytics, 15, 234-247.
32. Yoon, A. R., Rivera-Cruz, C., Gimble, J. M., et al. (2022). Immunotherapy by mesenchymal stromal cell delivery of oncolytic viruses for treating metastatic tumors. Molecular Therapy-Oncolytics, 25, 78-97.
33. Howard, F., & Muthana, M. (2020). Designer nanocarriers for navigating the systemic delivery of oncolytic viruses. Nanomedicine, 15(1), 93-110.
34. Wodarz, D. (2016). Computational modeling approaches to the dynamics of oncolytic viruses. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Systems Biology and Medicine, 8(3), 242-252.
35. Sivanandam, V., LaRocca, C. J., Chen, N. G., et al. (2019). Oncolytic viruses and immune checkpoint inhibition: the best of both worlds. Molecular Therapy-Oncolytics, 13, 93-106.
36. Simpson, G. R., Relph, K., Harrington, K., et al. (2016). Cancer immunotherapy via combining oncolytic virotherapy with chemotherapy: recent advances. Oncolytic virotherapy, 5, 1-13.
37. Jhawar, S. R., Wang, S. J., Thandoni, A., et al. (2023). Combination oncolytic virus, radiation therapy, and immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment in anti-PD-1-refractory cancer. Journal for immunotherapy of cancer, 11(7), e006780.
38. Hamdan, F., Fusciello, M., & Cerullo, V. (2023). Personalizing oncolytic virotherapy. Human Gene Therapy, 34(17-18), 870-877.
39. Atasheva, S., & Shayakhmetov, D. M. (2021). Oncolytic viruses for systemic administration: engineering a whole different animal. Molecular Therapy, 29(3), 904-907.
Leave a Reply