In the study, Dr. Gil and his colleagues worked with a genetically engineered herpes simplex virus called NV1023, which had been rendered non-virulent by removing the gene that allows the virus to attack healthy cells. For reasons that are still not entirely clear to researchers, the virus is lethal to cancer cells, despite the fact that it ignores healthy tissue.

Dans l'étude le docteur Gil et ses collègues ont travaillé avec le virus du herpès génétiquement modifié appelé NV1023 qui a été rendu non-virulent en otant le gène qui permet au virus d'attaquer les cellules saines. Pour des raisons encore pas entièrement claires pour les chercheurs, le virus est mortelle pour les cellules cancéreuses en dépit du fait qu'il épargne les cellules saines.

The researchers demonstrated that the virus effectively killed cells from three human carcinoma cell lines: pancreatic, head and neck, and prostate cancer. In addition, using a novel animal model, the researchers demonstrated that a single injection of an attenuated (non-virulent) herpes virus can effectively treat nerves infiltrated by cancer, while preserving physiological nerve function. Remarkably, all of the un-treated animals with cancers developed complete nerve paralysis within five weeks, whereas most of the NV1023 treated animals had intact nerve function up to 14 weeks after treatment. Phase I studies of the attenuated virus in humans are underway.

Les chercheurs ont démontré que le virus tue effectivement les cellules cancéreuses de 3 cancers humains le cancer du de la et celui de

De plus, en utilisant un model animal, les chercheurs ont démontré qu'une simple injection de ce virus du herpès peut effectivement ttraiter les nerfs infiltrés par le cancer et préserver les fonctions physiologiques.

Des études de phase I sont en marche.

July 2, 2009) — Researchers at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center are injecting a modified herpes virus into melanoma tumors, hoping to kill the cancer cells while also bolstering the body's immune defenses against the disease.

Les chercheurs ont injecté un virus modifié du herpès dans des tumeurs du mélanome en espérant tuer les cellules cancéreuses et booster le système immunitaire.

Gregory Daniels, MD, PhD, assistant clinical professor of medicine at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and his co-workers are comparing the modified virus treatment, called OncoVEX GM-CSF, to general immune system stimulation with the immune-boosting protein GM-CSF in an international phase III trial for patients with advanced melanoma. The Moores UCSD Cancer Center is the only site in San Diego for the clinical trial.

Daniels said that while the therapy has been shown in earlier testing to destroy the injected tumors to some degree, it also causes a general change in the immune system, occasionally shrinking uninjected tumors. "It's a more active type of immunotherapy, causing a cascade of immune system activity in the body," he said.

The team hopes to enroll 30 patients with advanced melanoma. The cancer in these individuals cannot be removed surgically, and the patients must have had one failed prior therapy. The goal of the trial is not necessarily to cure the patients of their cancer, but to enable them to live disease-free for at least six months and longer. In all, 360 patients worldwide will ultimately participate in the trial. Twice as many patients will get the virus as will get the GM-CSF alone. As this is not a blinded study, those running the trial will know who is getting which therapy, but the treatments are randomly assigned to participants.

L'équipe espère enroler 30 patients avec le cancer du mélanome. Le cancer de ces patients ne sera pas enlevable par chirurgie et les patient devront avoir eu au moins une thérapie qui n'aura pas marcher. Le but de l'essai est d'allonger la survie d'au moins 6 mois.

The virus infection-immune system-boosting approach could potentially be used for other types of cancers, Daniels said, such as colon, breast, prostate, bladder and lung.

Ce virus modifié pourrait être utilisé pour d'aures cancers

OncoVEX GM-CSF is made by BioVex, a Woburn, MA-based biotechnology company.