Oncolytic viruses Flashcards
1
Q
How are oncolytic viruses designed?
A
concept: you create a viral agent that doesn’t replicate in a normal cell but does in a cancer cell. The virus induces tumor lysis which will lead to virus spread and so creates an ongoing local infection in the tumor.
2
Q
How can you improve oncolytic viruses?
A
- Enhance infectivity by capsid modification.
- Enhance spread in injected tumor tissue.
- Improve delivery using (mesenchymal stem) cells as vehicle.
- Enhance potency by mutagenesis and bioselection.
- Combination of selectivity and potency modifications.
- Combined use of oncolytic viruses and immune checkpoint inhibitors.
3
Q
What are the effects of oncolytic virusses?
A
The primary effect of oncolytic viruses is cell lysis during virus replication and amplification. But the secondary effect might be even more important, which is that the lysis releases tumor antigens and the virus acts as adjuvant (danger signals), hence virotherapy is a form of immunotherapy.
