Herpes Virus Kills Skin Cancer and Boosts Immunity in Novel Treatment
Researchers have used the cold sore-causing Herpes Simplex virus to develop a potential cure for skin cancer.
Inactivated herpes virus can cause death of cancer cells by causing them to burst from within, without harming healthy cells. Additionally, the virus also stimulates the body's immune system to fight cancer by producing a molecule called GM-CSF. The virus is inactivated by removal of two key genes that prevent it from replicating in healthy cells.
The phase III clinical trials involved 436 participants with inoperable melanoma. In 16 percent treated with inactivated herpes virus called T-VEC, researchers found treatment response lasting more than six months extending to three years in some participants. The trials also showed that T-VEC can be used in effective treatment of early-stage melanoma.
Participants with stage III and stage IV melanoma survived 41 months compared to mean survival of 21.5 months in the control group.
"There is increasing excitement over the use of viral treatments like T-VEC for cancer, because they can launch a two-pronged attack on tumors - both killing cancer cells directly and marshalling the immune system against them. And because viral treatment can target cancer cells specifically, it tends to have fewer side-effects than traditional chemotherapy or some of the other new immunotherapies," said Professor Kevin Harrington of International Cancer Research, London.
