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July 11, 2007
More Information On Cancer-Killing Engineered Viruses
The herpes virus used here is HSV-1, which causes cold sores, not HSV-2, which causes genital herpes. The virus has been engineered in such a way as to only replicate in cancer cells. The same approach has been used with adenovirus, poxvirus, and reovirus. The adenovirus therapy is actually on the market in China for head and neck cancer. My company used to work on oncolytic adenovirus before we were bought by big pharma and the program was cut. The specificity of the virus for the cancer cells can be further increased by engineering the surface of the virus so it only infects cancer cells, and its potency can be increased by arming it with cancer-killing genes. There is very little chance for normal cells to be affected. The hard part is getting efficient tumor cell killing. I think this report is significant because the oncolytic virus was delivered systemically and worked against metastases rather than having to be injected directly into a solid tumor mass.
Why do I love the Internet? Because that information comes from someone calling himself "Pervy Grin."