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IMMUNOTHERAPY

Viruses in cancer therapy — from benchwarmers to quarterbacks

Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology volume 15, pages 657–658 (2018)Cite this article

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A recent clinical trial of a virotherapy approach, consisting of an engineered poliovirus, has provided evidence of apparently durable responses in patients with recurrent glioblastoma. The results of this trial and others indicate that virotherapy might be an effective tool in anticancer immunotherapy. Yet, caution must be exercised until appropriately powered randomized clinical trials truly show efficacy.

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Fig. 1: The current hypothesis for anticancer mechanisms of oncolytic virotherapy.

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Acknowledgements

E.A.C. acknowledges research support by the US NIH National Cancer Institute under awards 2P01CA163205, CA069246-20, and P50CA165962. P.P. acknowledges research support by the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke under award 5K08NS101091. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

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  1. Harvey Cushing Neuro-oncology Laboratories, Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Pierpaolo Peruzzi & E. Antonio Chiocca

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  1. Pierpaolo Peruzzi
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  2. E. Antonio Chiocca
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Correspondence to E. Antonio Chiocca.

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Competing interests

E.A.C. is a consultant for Advantagene and DNAtrix. He has also previously been a consultant for Tocagen and Ziopharm Oncology. P.P. declares no competing interests.

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Peruzzi, P., Chiocca, E.A. Viruses in cancer therapy — from benchwarmers to quarterbacks. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 15, 657–658 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41571-018-0077-0

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