Developing oncolytic viruses for clinical use: A consortium approach
Cytokine & Growth Factor Reviews, vol. 56, pp. 133–140
Abstract
The use of oncolytic viruses forms an appealing approach for cancer treatment. On the one hand the viruses replicate in, and kill, tumor cells, leading to their intra-tumoral amplification. On the other hand the viral infection will activate virus-directed immune responses, and may trigger immune responses directed against tumor cells and tumor antigens. To date, a wide variety of oncolytic viruses is being developed for use in cancer treatment. While the development of oncolytic viruses has often been initiated by researchers in academia and other public institutions, a large majority of the final product development and the testing of these products in clinical trials is industry led. As a consequence relatively few pre-clinical and clinical studies evaluated different oncolytic viruses in competitive side-by-side preclinical or clinical studies. In this review we will summarize the steps and considerations essential in the development and characterization of oncolytic viruses, and describe our multidisciplinary academic consortium, which involves a dozen departments in three different Dutch universities, collaborating in the development of oncolytic viruses. This consortium has the ambition to develop a small series of oncolytic viruses and to evaluate these in various cancers.
Authors 5
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Leiden University Medical Center
Affiliation as printed
Department of Cell and Chemical Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZC, Leiden, Netherlands
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Neurosurgery, Brain Tumor Center, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, 3015 CN, Rotterdam, Netherlands
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Leiden University Medical Center
Affiliation as printed
Department of Urology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2300 RC, Leiden, Netherlands
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Viroscience, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, 3015 CN, Rotterdam, Netherlands
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Leiden University Medical Center
Affiliation as printed
Department of Cell and Chemical Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZC, Leiden, Netherlands. Electronic address: r.c.hoeben@lumc.nl
Department of Cell and Chemical Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZC, Leiden, Netherlands
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