Oncolytic viruses for treatment of XXXX .

@entity1 @entity9504 @entity1313 @entity5 @entity11
Wild type viruses have been known for decades for their capability to destroy @entity5 cells upon infection and intracellular replication. Genetic engineering of such viruses was, however, only recently done in an attempt to improve their utility as biological anticancer agents. Wild type or recombinant viruses able to selectively destroy @entity5 cells while sparing normal tissue are known as oncolytic viruses. Most oncolytic viruses currently investigated in clinical trials are derived from @entity9504 (HSVI). More than 300 @entity1 with solid @entity5 were now treated in clinical trials with oncolytic viruses, and in most cases virus was administered directly into the @entity5 mass. About 10% of the above @entity1 had recurrent @entity11 . Total intratumoral doses of up to 2 x 10(12) virus particles were well tolerated, and in general no severe side effects resulted from the clinical use of oncolytic AV and HSVI, either in the brain or in the rest of the body. Encouraging anti-tumoral activity was demonstrated in some types of @entity5 treated locally with oncolytic viruses, and systemic chemotherapy was found to potentiate the anti- @entity5 effect of virus mediated oncolysis. In @entity11 , standard gene therapy approaches employing non-replicating virus vectors failed to demonstrate significant benefit in clinical studies. Therapy with oncolytic viruses seems to hold more promise in early clinical trials than gene therapy with non-replicating virus vectors. However, further major advancements in virus designs, application modalities, and understanding of the interactions of the host's immune system with the virus are clearly needed before oncolytic virus therapy of @entity1313 can be introduced to clinical practice.
