Oncolytic Sendai virus-based virotherapy for cancer: recent advances

Many drugs have been developed and optimized for the treatment of cancer; however, it is difficult to completely cure cancer with anticancer drugs alone. Therefore, the development of new therapeutic technologies, in addition to new anticancer drugs, is necessary for more effective oncotherapy. Oncolytic viruses are one potential new anticancer strategy. Various oncolytic viruses have been developed for safe and effective oncotherapy. Recently, Sendai virus-based oncotherapy has been reported by several groups, and attention has been drawn to its unique anticancer mechanisms, which are different from those of the conventional oncolytic viruses that kill cancer cells by cancer cell-selective replication. Here, we introduce Sendai virus-based virotherapy and its anticancer mechanisms.