Tumour meltdown in China therapy tests offers hope to late-stage cancer patients
Experimental therapy uses a modified virus to boost immunity and make anti-tumour treatments more effective, according to study
China has unveiled the results of the world’s first advanced clinical trials of a cancer therapy based on a modified virus that can trigger a “tumour meltdown” in terminal-stage patients – offering renewed hope where conventional treatments have failed.
The therapy, which uses an engineered herpes simplex virus, was approved for the next stage of research last year under China’s emergency breakthrough protocol after early trial data based on 40 patients with liver cancer revealed a near-doubling in life expectancy.
According to a paper by researchers from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, the modified virus, known as VG161, was able to infiltrate and dismantle drug-resistant liver tumours in the patients while supercharging their immune defences.
Liang Tingbo and his team, from the hospital’s hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery department, reported that the therapy reversed immunotherapy resistance and “cold” tumours were transformed into treatable “hot” zones.
The study not only challenges the US and Japan’s dominance in oncolytic virus research, it also pivots the global fight against cancer towards common, deadly malignancies like liver and gastric cancers, according to the paper, published by the journal Nature on March 20.
For patients once deemed untreatable, the breakthrough marks the dawn of a new era where viruses as well as medicines wage war on cancer. Patients can be treated repeatedly until the disease is either controlled or cured, the researchers said.