Cancer Science & Therapy

Oncolytic Viruses

Oncolytic viruses are a form of immunotherapy that destroy cancer cells. Oncolytic viruses (OVs) are powerful new therapeutic agents in cancer therapy. With the first OV (talimogene laherparepvec [T-vec]) obtaining US Food and Drug Administration approval, interest in OVs has been boosted greatly. Viruses are particles that infect or enter our cells and then use the cell’s genetic machinery to make copies of themselves and subsequently spread to surrounding uninfected cells. Infection by certain viruses has been implicated in the development of certain cancers, such as the hepatitis B virus (HBV) in liver cancer and the human papilloma virus (HPV) in cervical cancer and head and neck cancer. (In the case of HPV and hepatitis, another type of immunotherapy—cancer vaccines—has shown the ability to prevent infection and protect against the formation of these HPV- and HBV-related cancers.)