Oncolytic virotherapy in cancer treatment: challenges and optimization prospects

Lingjuan Chen; Mengsi Zuo; Qin Zhou; Yang Wang

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2023.1308890

Oncolytic virotherapy in cancer treatment: challenges and optimization prospects

Front Immunol. 2023 Dec 15:14:1308890. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1308890. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Lingjuan Chen^{1

2

3}, Mengsi Zuo⁴, Qin Zhou⁵, Yang Wang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Cancer Center, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
² Institute of Radiation Oncology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
³ Hubei Key Laboratory of Precision Radiation Oncology, Wuhan, China.
⁴ Department of Oncology, The Sixth Hospital of Wuhan, Affiliated Hospital of Jianghan University, Wuhan, China.
⁵ National "111" Center for Cellular Regulation and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Key Laboratory of Fermentation Engineering (Ministry of Education), Cooperative Innovation Center of Industrial Fermentation (Ministry of Education & Hubei Province), College of Bioengineering, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, China.

Abstract

Oncolytic viruses (OVs) are emerging cancer therapeutics that offer a multifaceted therapeutic platform for the benefits of replicating and lysing tumor cells, being engineered to express transgenes, modulating the tumor microenvironment (TME), and having a tolerable safety profile that does not overlap with other cancer therapeutics. The mechanism of OVs combined with other antitumor agents is based on immune-mediated attack resistance and might benefit patients who fail to achieve durable responses after immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment. In this Review, we summarize data on the OV mechanism and limitations of monotherapy, which are currently in the process of combination partner development, especially with ICIs. We discuss some of the hurdles that have limited the preclinical and clinical development of OVs. We also describe the available data and provide guidance for optimizing OVs in clinical practice, as well as a summary of approved and promising novel OVs with clinical indications.

Keywords: antitumor immunity; challenges; combination therapy; immune checkpoint inhibitor; oncolytic viruses (OVs).

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Humans
Immunotherapy
Neoplasms*
Oncolytic Virotherapy*
Oncolytic Viruses*
Tumor Microenvironment

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province of China (2023AFB1035), Bethune-Cancer Radiotherapy Translational Medicine Research Fund of China (Grant No. flzh202117) and the Beijing Kechuang Medical Development Foundation Fund of China (Grant No. KC2021-JX-0186-31).