The emerging field of oncolytic virus-based cancer immunotherapy.

Oncolytic viruses (OVs) provide novel and promising therapeutic options for patients with cancers resistant to traditional therapies. Natural or genetically modified OVs are multifaceted tumor killers. They directly lyse tumor cells while sparing normal cells, and indirectly potentiate antitumor immunity by releasing antigens and activating inflammatory responses in the tumor microenvironment. However, some limitations, such as limited penetration of OVs into tumors, short persistence, and the host antiviral immune response, are impeding the broad translation of oncolytic virotherapy into the clinic. If these challenges can be overcome, combination therapies, such as OVs plus immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, or CAR natural killer (NK) cells, may provide powerful therapeutic platforms in the clinic.
Competing Interests: Declaration of interests E.A.C. is currently (within the past year) an advisor to Amacathera, Bionaut Labs, Candel Therapeutics, Genenta, Insightec, DNAtrix, Seneca Therapeutics, and Synthetic Biologics. He has equity options in Bionaut Laboratories, DNAtrix, Immunomic Therapeutics, Seneca Therapeutics, Synthetic Biologics, and Ternalys Therapeutics. He is cofounder and on the Board of Directors of Ternalys Therapeutics. E.A.C, M.A.C., and J.Y. have oncolytic virus patents awarded or pending. M.A.C. and J.Y are cofounders of CytoImmune Therapeutics. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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