Oncolytic herpes simplex virus prevents premalignant lesions from progressing to cancer Journal Article


Authors: Woo, Y.; Reid, V.; Kelly, K. J.; Carlson, D.; Yu, Z.; Fong, Y.
Article Title: Oncolytic herpes simplex virus prevents premalignant lesions from progressing to cancer
Abstract: Early detection and timely treatment of precancerous lesions are hallmarks of successful strategies to prevent deaths due to cancer. Oncolytic viruses are a group of promising anti-cancer agents with wide-ranging experimental and clinical efficacy against solid tumors. Previously, we have shown that NV1066, an oncolytic herpes simplex-1 virus encoding enhanced green fluorescent protein, selectively infects, replicates in, and kills various cancer types. In this study, we sought to determine whether this oncolytic agent can treat precancerous lesions to prevent cancer formation. Using an oral chemical carcinogenesis model in hamsters, we assessed the ability of NV1066 to infect precancerous and cancerous lesions. NV1066 consistently infected dysplastic cells, carcinoma in situ, and squamous cell carcinoma. Animals receiving an intramucosal injection of NV1066 for 7 weeks showed significantly fewer (3-fold) and smaller (4-fold) lesions compared to animals that did not receive viral treatment. Results indicate that infectivity might be dependent on the herpes simplex virus 1 receptor, nectin-1. This study demonstrates that not only can NV1066 treat oral squamous cell carcinoma, but it can also infect and treat premalignant lesions, thus delaying cancer progression. Overall, our study shows the potential of the oncolytic virus NV1066 as a cancer prevention tool. © 2019 The Authors
Keywords: cancer prevention; carcinogenesis; oncolytic virotherapy; herpes simplex virus; early cancer diagnosis; viral tropism; oral squamous carcinoma
Journal Title: Molecular Therapy - Oncolytics
Volume: 16
ISSN: 2372-7705
Publisher: Cell Press  
Date Published: 2020-03-27
Start Page: 1
End Page: 6
Language: English
DOI: 10.1016/j.omto.2019.11.003
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC6940689
PUBMED: 31909180
DOI/URL:
Notes: Article -- Export Date: 3 February 2020 -- Source: Scopus
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MSK Authors
  1. Zhenkun Yu
    25 Yu
  2. Diane Carlson
    52 Carlson
  3. Vincent J Reid
    9 Reid
  4. Kaitlyn J Kelly
    31 Kelly
  5. Yanghee Woo
    18 Woo
  6. Yuman Fong
    775 Fong