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Newcastle disease virus (NDV) have shown oncolytic therapeutic efficacy in preclinical study and are currently approved for clinical trials. NDV Anhinga strain which is a mesogenic strain should be classified as lytic strain and has a therapeutic efficacy in hepatocellular cancer. In this study, we evaluated the capacity of NDV Anhinga strain to elicit immune reaction in vivo and the possibility for using as a vaccine vector for expressing tumor therapeutic factors. Interleukin-2 (IL-2) could boost the immune response against the tumor cells. Therefore, we use NDV Anhinga strain as backbone to construct a recombinant virus (NDV/Anh-IL-2) expressing IL-2. The virus growth curve showed that the production of recombinant NDV/Anh-IL-2 was slightly delayed compared to the wild type. The NDV/Anh-IL-2 strain could express soluble IL-2 and effectively inhibit the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma in vivo. 60 days post-treatment, mice which were completely cured by previous treatment were well protected when rechallenged with the same tumor cell. From the H&E-stained sections, intense infiltration of lymphocyte was observed in the NDV Anhinga strain treated group, especially in NDV/Anh-IL-2 group. The NDV Anhinga strain could not only kill the tumor directly, but could also elicit immune reaction and a potent immunological memory when killing tumor in vivo. In conclusion, the Anhinga strain could be an effective vector for tumor therapy; the recombinant NDV/Anh-IL-2 strain expressing soluble IL-2 is a promising candidate for hepatoma therapy.

Adenoviruses with deletion of E1b have been used in clinical trials to treat cancers that are resistant to conventional therapies. The efficacy of viral replication within cancer cells determines the results of oncolytic therapy, which remains poorly understood and requires further improvement. In this report, we show that adenoviruses induce autophagy by increasing the conversion of LC3-I to LC3-II and the formation of the Atg12–Atg5 complex. Inhibition of autophagy with 3-methyladenine (3MA) resulted in a decreased synthesis of adenovirus structural proteins, and thereby a poor viral replication; promotion of autophagy with rapamycin increased adenovirus yield. This study indicates that adenovirus-induced autophagy correlates positively with virus replication and oncolytic cell death, and that autophagy may generate nutrients that can be used for building viral progeny particles. These results further suggest that chemotherapeutic agents that increase cancer cell autophagy may improve the efficacy of oncolytic virotherapy.

Current oncolytic virotherapy strategies are based in the accumulated understanding of the common molecular mechanisms displayed during cell transformation and viral infection, like cell cycle and apoptosis deregulations. Oncolytic virotherapy aims to achieve a strong cytolytic effect, highly restricted to transformed cells. Here, we describe the oncolytic virotherapy defined as the use of viruses like antitumor agents (wild and gene-modified oncolytic viruses) and the developed strategies to increase antitumor efficacy and safety. In addition, we discuss the advances and challenges concerning the use virotherapy in animal models and clinical trials. Some clinical trials of virotherapy have demonstrated promising results, particularly when combined with standard antineoplastic therapies. These preliminary accomplishments are opening the field for more research in several aspects, like vector modifications, pharmacodynamics, biosafety, new clinical applications, etc.

Oncolytic viruses (OVs) are tumor-selective, multi-mechanistic antitumor agents. They kill infected cancer and associated endothelial cells via direct oncolysis, and uninfected cells via tumor vasculature targeting and bystander effect. Multimodal immunogenic cell death (ICD) together with autophagy often induced by OVs not only presents potent danger signals to dendritic cells but also efficiently cross-present tumor-associated antigens from cancer cells to dendritic cells to T cells to induce adaptive antitumor immunity. With this favorable immune backdrop, genetic engineering of OVs and rational combinations further potentiate OVs as cancer vaccines. OVs armed with GM-CSF (such as T-VEC and Pexa-Vec) or other immunostimulatory genes, induce potent anti-tumor immunity in both animal models and human patients. Combination with other immunotherapy regimens improve overall therapeutic efficacy. Coadministration with a HDAC inhibitor inhibits innate immunity transiently to promote infection and spread of OVs, and significantly enhances anti-tumor immunity and improves the therapeutic index. Local administration or OV mediated-expression of ligands for Toll-like receptors can rescue the function of tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells inhibited by the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and thus enhances the antitumor effect. Combination with cyclophosphamide further induces ICD, depletes Treg, and thus potentiates antitumor immunity. In summary, OVs properly armed or in rational combinations are potent therapeutic cancer vaccines.

Oncolytic viruses refer to those that are able to eliminate malignancies by direct targeting and lysis of cancer cells, leaving non-cancerous tissues unharmed. Several oncolytic viruses including adenovirus strains, canine distemper virus and vaccinia virus strains have been used for canine cancer therapy in preclinical studies. However, in contrast to human studies, clinical trials with oncolytic viruses for canine cancer patients have not been reported. An 'ideal' virus has yet to be identified. This review is focused on the prospective use of oncolytic viruses in the treatment of canine tumors - a knowledge that will undoubtedly contribute to the development of oncolytic viral agents for canine cancer therapy in the future.