Virotherapy News and Research

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Virotherapy is treatment using a virus that has been changed in the laboratory to find and destroy cancer cells without harming healthy cells. It is a type of targeted therapy. Also called oncolytic virotherapy, oncolytic virus therapy, and viral therapy.

Scientists use genetically reprogrammed herpes virus to shrink distant sarcomas

Scientists have used a genetically reprogrammed herpes virus and an anti-vascular drug to shrink spreading distant sarcomas designed to model metastatic disease in mice - still an elusive goal when treating humans with cancer, according to a study in the July 8 Gene Therapy.

8 Jul 2010

South Dakota State University mathematicians design mathematical models to treat cancer

South Dakota State University mathematicians are helping doctors of the Mayo Clinic build mathematical models to fine-tune an innovative strategy to treat cancer.

24 May 2010

Combining antiangiogenic cancer therapy with oncolytic virotherapy leads to regression of tumors

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. announced today that a paper entitled "Antiangiogenic cancer therapy combined with oncolytic virotherapy leads to regression of established tumors in mice," co-senior authored by Dr. Richard Vile of the Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA, and Dr. Kevin Harrington of the Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK, was published in the online version of the Journal of Clinical Investigation on April 1, 2010.

8 Apr 2010

Global market for oncology drugs is forecast to reach $80 billion by 2050

New Medicine's Oncology KnowledgeBASE (nm/OK) residing at http://nmok.net became available on the Internet 10 years ago and, since then, the oncology field has evolved into one of the most challenging, complex and promising drug development sectors, both in terms of its potential contribution to medicine and to its market opportunities.

29 Jan 2010

Trial of new ‘combo’ treatment for hepatitis C

In a multi-center trial led by a Saint Louis University researcher, investigators found that a new combination therapy of daily consensus interferon and ribavirin helps some hepatitis C patients who have not responded to previous treatment.

17 Jun 2009

Tamed virus wipes out cancer safely

Cancer Research UK scientists have tamed a virus so that it attacks and destroys cancer cells but does not harm healthy cells, according to a paper published in PLoS Pathogens, today.

22 May 2009

Cimzia approved in U.S. for rheumatoid arthritis

UCB announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Cimzia, the only PEGylated anti-TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor), for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

13 May 2009

Virotherapy treatment kills prostate cancer cells

A new study appearing in The Prostate has found that certain measles virus vaccine strain derivatives, including a strain known as MV-CEA, may prove to be an effective treatment for patients with advanced prostate cancer.

21 Jan 2009

May hepatic granulomas be part of the histological spectrum of chronic hepatitis C?

While older large series of patients with hepatic granulomas have found sarcoidosis and tuberculosis to be the most common causes of hepatic granulomas, recent works have noted some patients with chronic hepatic C and hepatic granulomas and no other obvious associations.

30 Dec 2008

Low-dose peginterferon used for hepatitis C doesn't work

An NIH funded multi-center clinical trial found no benefit from "maintenance therapy," low-dose peginterferon used for hepatitis C patients who have not responded to an initial round of treatment.

3 Dec 2008

Asthma risk increases in children treated for HIV

Children whose immune systems rebound after treatment with potent anti-viral drugs for HIV infection face an increased risk of developing asthma, said a federally funded consortium of researchers led by those from Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

1 Jul 2008

Technique for analyzing the function of microRNAs wins Barenholz Prize for Hebrew University student

A unique technique for analyzing the function of microRNAs developed by a Hebrew University of Jerusalem doctoral student has led to the discovery of a new mechanism by which viruses evade the human immune system. This discovery has important implications for human intervention in the battle between viruses and humans.

25 Jun 2008

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals awarded two new U.S. patents for targeted anti-aminophospholipid agents

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported the issuance of two U.S. patents that significantly broaden the company's intellectual property leadership in the field of targeted anti-aminophospholipid agents.

16 Jun 2008

Viruses genetically designed to kill cancer cells influence tumor blood-vessel growth

Viruses genetically designed to kill cancer cells offer a promising strategy for treating incurable brain tumors such as glioblastoma, but the body's natural defenses often eliminate the viruses before they can eliminate the tumor.

11 Jun 2008

New advance in use of oncolytic viruses as novel cancer treatments

Combining a herpes virus genetically altered to express a drug-enhancing enzyme with a chemotherapy drug effectively and safely reduced the size of highly malignant human sarcoma grafted into mice.

22 Apr 2008

Tumor-targeting viral therapy slows neuroblastoma, malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors

Researchers in a multi-institutional study led by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center slowed the growth of two particularly stubborn solid tumor cancers - neuroblastoma and peripheral nerve sheath tumors - without harming healthy tissues by inserting instructions to inhibit tissue growth into an engineered virus, according to study results published in the February 15 Cancer Research.

18 Feb 2008

Oncolytics Biotech receives approval for UK clinical trial of of REOLYSIN

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. has announced that it has received a letter of approval from the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for its Clinical Trial Application (CTA) to begin a clinical trial using intravenous administration of REOLYSIN in combination with cyclophosphamide, a chemotherapeutic agent as well as immune modulator, in patients with advanced cancers.

24 Oct 2007

Antiretroviral drug Lopinavir selectively kills HPV-infected cells in lab tests

The protease inhibitor lopinavir - the primary component of Abbott Laboratories' antiretroviral drug Kaletra - selectively killed the human papillomavirus in laboratory tests, according to a study scheduled to be published next month in the journal Anti-Viral Therapy.

From The University of Manchester 30 Aug 2006

Fever might be a useful weapon in the fight against cancer

A therapeutic approach for battling cancer that is based on infection with a specially designed virus similar to the one that causes the common cold has shown promise in clinical trials. Now, new research suggests that fever might be a useful weapon in the fight as well.

18 Jul 2005

Tarvacin shows significant anti-viral activity

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals today announced that there will be two presentations, April 4 and 6, at the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) annual meeting in San Diego, California, indicating the anti-viral potential of its Tarvacin antibody. Dr. Melina Soares of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas will present pre-clinical data titled "Targeting inside-out phospholipids on viruses in a guinea pig model of Lassa fever."

4 Apr 2005