Oncolytic herpes
Genetically modified herpes virus kills advanced forms of cancer
Alexey Koretsky, Hi-tech+
Scientists have genetically modified a strain of herpes simplex virus and turned it into an effective weapon against various forms of cancer. During the first phase of clinical trials, the oncolytic virus completely killed cancer or stopped its development in 10 out of 39 patients with oncopathology at the last stage, who were no longer helped by existing therapies.
"Viruses are one of the oldest enemies of humanity, as we all saw during the pandemic," he explained Christian Helen from the Cancer Research Institute. "But our new study suggests that we can use some of the features of viruses to target them to destroy cancer cells."
In a new study, scientists change the strain of the herpes simplex virus. The genetically modified virus, called RP2, was designed so that it reproduces only inside cancer cells, causing them to inflate and explode as a result of this reproduction. Therapy involves the direct introduction of the virus into the tumor. It also acts as an alarm signal, attracting the body's resources to activate the immune defense.
In three of the nine patients who received only RP2 without additional immunotherapy, the tumors shrank. In one patient with salivary gland cancer, the tumor has completely disappeared and he has not had any traces of cancer for 15 months. Two other patients in this group had esophageal cancer and uveal melanoma, a rare type of eye cancer with liver metastases. Their tumors also noticeably decreased and did not progress 18 and 15 months after the start of treatment.
Seven out of 30 patients who received both RP2 and nivolumab immunotherapy also received a positive effect from the treatment.
In this group, four out of nine patients with melanoma of the skin, two out of eight patients with uveal melanoma of the eye and one out of three patients with head and neck cancer, tumor growth stopped or decreased. Of the seven patients who received combination therapy, six had no cancer progression 14 months after the start of therapy.
"It is rare to see such good response rates in the early stages of clinical trials, since their main purpose is to test the safety of treatment, and they involve patients with very advanced forms of cancer for whom existing treatments have stopped working," said Kevin Harrington, a researcher working on the project.
The first phase clinical trial was aimed at verifying the safety of treatment and identifying side effects. Bottom line: the safety of the approach has been confirmed, the therapy has not revealed any serious side effects. The trials involved patients with various types of cancer. Further trials will be aimed at enhancing the action of the modified herpes virus against cancer types that have shown the greatest vulnerability to such therapy.
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