Update on oncolytic viral therapy - targeting angiogenesis

James R Tysome1, Nick R Lemoine, Yaohe Wang

  • 1Centre for Molecular Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom ; Department of Otolaryngology, Cambridge University Hospitals, Cambridge, United Kingdom ; Sino-British Research Center for Molecular Oncology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, People's Republic of China.

Oncotargets and Therapy
|August 14, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Oncolytic viruses (OVs) can be engineered to target tumor angiogenesis. Combining OVs with antiangiogenic strategies offers a promising approach to enhance cancer therapy effectiveness.

Area of Science:

  • Oncolytic virotherapy
  • Cancer biology
  • Tumor angiogenesis

Background:

  • Oncolytic viruses (OVs) selectively infect and lyse cancer cells.
  • Tumor growth relies on angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels.
  • Current antiangiogenic therapies often have limited efficacy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the development and targeting of OVs in cancer therapy.
  • To discuss the role of angiogenesis in tumor progression.
  • To explore strategies for combining OVs with antiangiogenic approaches.

Main Methods:

  • Direct targeting of vascular endothelial cells by OVs.
  • Engineering OVs to express antiangiogenic transgenes within the tumor microenvironment.

Main Results:

  • OVs can be armed with antiangiogenic transgenes for localized expression.
  • Combination therapy aims to overcome limitations of individual approaches.

Conclusions:

  • Arming OVs with antiangiogenic transgenes is a developing strategy.
  • Further optimization is needed to maximize the therapeutic potential of this combined approach.

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