Virus Against Cancer: Paradigm-Shifting Biological Concepts

Virotherapy has emerged as a promising approach to cancer treatment. Over the past two decades, early-phase clinical trials have demonstrated the safety and promising efficacy of virotherapy in subsets of cancer patients. However, a significant knowledge gap needs to be filled to propel the field further and achieve substantial anti-cancer benefits for more than the current 10-20% of treated patients. This article reviews the most relevant current challenges in cancer virotherapy.

Recent clinical observations suggest that patients who respond to virotherapy experience a shift in their immune response from an initial or concomitant response against the virus toward the tumor. Strategies aimed at facilitating the temporary escape of the virus from the immune response and ultimately redirecting the immune response from the virus to the tumor may propel the development of cancer viroimmunotherapy as a potent and versatile approach to cancer treatment. Here, we examine this issue and other current challenges in cancer virotherapy.