Abstract
Oncolytic virotherapy (OV) is an emerging class of immunotherapeutic drugs. Their mechanism of action is two-fold: direct cell lysis and unmasking of the cancer through immunogenic cell death, which allows the immune system to recognize and eradicate tumours. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and is challenging to treat with immunotherapy modalities because it is classically an immunogenically “cold” tumour type. This provides an attractive niche for OV, given viruses have been shown to turn “cold” tumours “hot,” thereby opening a plethora of treatment opportunities. There has been a number of pre-clinical attempts to explore the use of OV in breast cancer; however, these have not led to any meaningful clinical trials. This review considers both the potential and the barriers to OV in breast cancer, namely, the limitations of monotherapy and the scope for combination therapy, improving viral delivery and challenges specific to the breast cancer population (e.g., tumour subtype, menopausal status, age).
Highlights
Neoplastic disease accounts for one in six deaths globally, with cancer being the second leading cause of death worldwide
55% will present with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), which is characterised by the uncontrolled neoplastic proliferation of epithelial cells, which are localized to the ducts or lobules of the mammary gland [3]
Vaccines of viral components, in the form of gene therapy, can often be thought of as an Oncolytic virotherapy (OV), this review focuses on the use of live, replicating viruses and their potential role in breast cancer treatment
Summary
Neoplastic disease accounts for one in six deaths globally, with cancer being the second leading cause of death worldwide. The T-Vec virus was attenuated to express high levels of granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor, which is an essential cytokine for the production and stimulation of new infection-fighting white blood cells [6] It was first used as a single therapy for the treatment of aggressive melanoma. Breast cancers have historically been amongst the hardest to treat and so far, immunotherapies including checkpoint inhibitors have resulted in little success in clinical trials [8,9] This highlights the need for new combinational therapies that help target cancers that are immunosuppressed, using checkpoint inhibitors. The ability for oncolytic viruses to generate multiple daughter virions upon infecting one tumour cell is one of the more attractive qualities of using virotherapies This “self-implication” property enhances rapid tumour lysis and increases the possibility of single or lower dosing regimens for patients. Vaccines of viral components, in the form of gene therapy, can often be thought of as an OV, this review focuses on the use of live, replicating viruses and their potential role in breast cancer treatment
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
