Oncolytic Viruses as Therapeutic Agents for Prostate Cancer

Abstract

Prostate cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality for men in the Western world. Conventional anti-cancer therapies like chemotherapy, irradiation, and hormone ablation often slow tumor growth but do not engender long term benefits on patient survival. These therapies are limited by the fact that tumor re-growth and spread to distal sites usually occurs following the conclusion of treatment. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for the development of alternative therapeutic regiments. The use of oncolytic viruses for the treatment of prostate cancer is an attractive option due to the natural ability of viruses to target and kill cancer cells. Furthermore, oncolytic viruses may be genetically manipulated to transfer exogenous genes into cancer cells in order to provide new generations of biological controls. This brief review highlights the potential of select oncolytic viruses as promising modalities for prostate cancer treatments and presents the advantages and practicalities of such viruses as therapeutic agents.