Design Strategies and Precautions for Using Vaccinia Virus in Tumor Virotherapy

• Published in: Vaccines (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 9; p. 1552
• Main Authors: Liu, Xinjun, Zhao, Jian, Li, Xiaopeng, Lao, Fengxue, Fang, Min
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.09.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Adenoviruses; Biological products; Cancer; Cancer immunotherapy; Cancer therapies; Care and treatment; Clinical trials; Cytokines; DNA viruses; Epidermal growth factor; Genes; Genetic engineering; Genetic modification; Health aspects; Herpes viruses; Immune checkpoint inhibitors; Immunotherapy; Infections; Kinases; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Melanoma; Metabolism; Microenvironments; Oncolysis; oncolytic virotherapy; personalized treatment; Review; Safety; Selectivity; Smallpox; Tumor cells; tumor treatment; Tumors; Vaccines; vaccinia virus; Viral infections; Virulence; Virulence factors; Viruses; China
• ISSN: 2076-393X; 2076-393X
• DOI: 10.3390/vaccines10091552

Oncolytic virotherapy has emerged as a novel form of cancer immunotherapy. Oncolytic viruses (OVs) can directly infect and lyse the tumor cells, and modulate the beneficial immune microenvironment. Vaccinia virus (VACV) is a promising oncolytic vector because of its high safety, easy gene editing, and tumor intrinsic selectivity. To further improve the safety, tumor-targeting ability, and OV-induced cancer-specific immune activation, various approaches have been used to modify OVs. The recombinant oncolytic VACVs with deleting viral virulence factors and/or arming various therapeutic genes have displayed better therapeutic effects in multiple tumor models. Moreover, the combination of OVs with other cancer immunotherapeutic approaches, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors and CAR-T cells, has the potential to improve the outcome in cancer patients. This will open up new possibilities for the application of OVs in cancer treatment, especially for personalized cancer therapies.