Oncolytic Viruses

Keanna Barnes
Abstract
Current studies on oncolytic viruses have been underway to ultimately reduce the casualties cancer brings upon citizens globally. Lately, a series of clinical studies have shown clinical response when vaccines are combined with other forms of treatment in patients with all sorts of different cancers. Although scientists may be tempted to combine an oncolytic virus with an already existing radiation or chemotherapeutic, the long term goals have to be realistic and rational, maybe even a combination strategy that can be effectively as well as safely be used in clinical testing. Another thing that is noteworthy is that the standard criteria used for defining the responses from tumors and progression might not correctly reflect patient responses to
Vaccines have been created for Hepatitis B, which associates with liver cancer, and even for HPV (human papillomavirus), which is commonly responsible for a majority of cervical cancer cases (Aghi, M., Chao Chou, T., Suling, K.,
Breakefield, X., & Chiocca, E, 1999). Treatment opportunities for cancer are getting better and better. Viruses have come in to the playing field for curing cancer. There has been a global spread of cancer treatments involving surgery, hormone therapy. radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. Surgeries are used to withdraw tumors from the body using instruments that can be used to look and work inside the body. Hormone therapy is used most commonly to prevent or cure breast cancer using estrogen to influence cancer growth.

Radiation is a type of treatment given at the time of surgeries, and is directly given to the cancer or nearby areas to prevent cancer making it’s way back into the same spot. Chemotherapy prevents the spread of cancer, and immunotherapy boosts the body 's natural defenses (Treatment
Types, 2015) . All of these treatments remedies have success, but are not all promising in curing
J., Peng, K.­W., & Bell, J. C, 2012). Briefly, oncolytic virus therapy involves treating patients with genetically engineered viruses to specifically infect cancer cells, rather than giving the patient the disease it would usually bring. The overall theory of the process is for the virus to be injected into the body, resulting in the mass duplication of the cancer killing agent. Although disease treatments have significantly improved, radiotherapy or chemotherapy have shown limited effects against most forms of cancer, not to mention the excessive amounts of side effects treatments have. Because of this situation, a need for new therapeutic strategies have arised, and this is where scientists have looked to using viruses (Treatment Types, 2015). The understanding of viruses to kill cancer cells have been an ongoing project for over a century.

Even though trails for naturally occurring viruses have been going on since the 1950’s, it was in
1991 when herpes simplex­virus­1 gene became the first genetically engineered virus to be tested in a laboratory.