Modern approaches to treating cancer with oncolytic viruses

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the world. This serves as a powerful incentive to search for new effective cancer treatments. The development of new oncolytic viruses that are capable of destroying cancer cells selectively is one of the modern approaches to cancer treatment. The advantage of this method – selective lysis of tumor cells with the help of viruses – leads to an increase in the antitumor immune response of the body, which, in turn, promotes the destruction of the primary tumor and its metastases. Significant progress in the development of this method has been achieved in the last decade. In this review, we analyze the literature data on the oncolytic viruses that have demonstrated a positive therapeutic effect against malignant neoplasms in various localizations. We discuss the main mechanisms of the oncolytic activity of viruses and assess their advantages over other methods of cancer therapy as well as the prospects for their use in clinical practice.