Santos Apolonio J, Lima de Souza Gonçalves V, Cordeiro Santos ML, Silva Luz M, Silva Souza JV, Rocha Pinheiro SL, de Souza WR, Sande Loureiro M, de Melo FF. Oncolytic virus therapy in cancer: A current review. World J Virol 2021; 10(5): 229-255 [PMID: 34631474 DOI: 10.5501/wjv.v10.i5.229]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Fabrício Freire de Melo, PhD, Professor, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Instituto Multidisciplinar em Saúde, Rua Hormindo Barros, 58, Quadra 17, Lote 58, Vitória da Conquista 45029-094, Bahia, Brazil. freiremelo@yahoo.com.br
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Virol. Sep 25, 2021; 10(5): 229-255 Published online Sep 25, 2021. doi: 10.5501/wjv.v10.i5.229
Oncolytic virus therapy in cancer: A current review
Jonathan Santos Apolonio, Vinícius Lima de Souza Gonçalves, Maria Luísa Cordeiro Santos, Marcel Silva Luz, João Victor Silva Souza, Samuel Luca Rocha Pinheiro, Wedja Rafaela de Souza, Matheus Sande Loureiro, Fabrício Freire de Melo
Jonathan Santos Apolonio, Maria Luísa Cordeiro Santos, Marcel Silva Luz, Samuel Luca Rocha Pinheiro, Wedja Rafaela de Souza, Matheus Sande Loureiro, Fabrício Freire de Melo, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Instituto Multidisciplinar em Saúde, Vitória da Conquista 45029-094, Bahia, Brazil
Vinícius Lima de Souza Gonçalves, João Victor Silva Souza, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia, Campus Vitória da Conquista, Vitória da Conquista 45083-900, Bahia, Brazil
Author contributions: All authors equally contributed to this paper with conception and design of the study, literature review and analysis, drafting and critical revision and editing, and final approval of the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare there are no conflicts of interests in this manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Fabrício Freire de Melo, PhD, Professor, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Instituto Multidisciplinar em Saúde, Rua Hormindo Barros, 58, Quadra 17, Lote 58, Vitória da Conquista 45029-094, Bahia, Brazil. freiremelo@yahoo.com.br
Received: March 10, 2021 Peer-review started: March 10, 2021 First decision: May 5, 2021 Revised: May 19, 2021 Accepted: August 9, 2021 Article in press: August 9, 2021 Published online: September 25, 2021 Processing time: 189 Days and 11.6 Hours
Abstract
In view of the advancement in the understanding about the most diverse types of cancer and consequently a relentless search for a cure and increased survival rates of cancer patients, finding a therapy that is able to combat the mechanism of aggression of this disease is extremely important. Thus, oncolytic viruses (OVs) have demonstrated great benefits in the treatment of cancer because it mediates antitumor effects in several ways. Viruses can be used to infect cancer cells, especially over normal cells, to present tumor-associated antigens, to activate “danger signals” that generate a less immune-tolerant tumor microenvironment, and to serve transduction vehicles for expression of inflammatory and immunomodulatory cytokines. The success of therapies using OVs was initially demonstrated by the use of the genetically modified herpes virus, talimogene laherparepvec, for the treatment of melanoma. At this time, several OVs are being studied as a potential treatment for cancer in clinical trials. However, it is necessary to be aware of the safety and possible adverse effects of this therapy; after all, an effective treatment for cancer should promote regression, attack the tumor, and in the meantime induce minimal systemic repercussions. In this manuscript, we will present a current review of the mechanism of action of OVs, main clinical uses, updates, and future perspectives on this treatment.
Core Tip: Oncolytic viruses are organisms able to infect and lyse the tumor cells beyond stimulating the immune system to combat the disease. The clinical use of oncolytic viruses has shown to have positive results in the treatment of some types of cancers, contributing to reducing the tumor. Furthermore, the combined use of these viruses and other antitumor therapies have contributed to better prognosis in the patient’s clinical condition.
