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Viruses in cancer therapy — from benchwarmers to quarterbacks

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A recent clinical trial of a virotherapy approach, consisting of an engineered poliovirus, has provided evidence of apparently durable responses in patients with recurrent glioblastoma. The results of this trial and others indicate that virotherapy might be an effective tool in anticancer immunotherapy. Yet, caution must be exercised until appropriately powered randomized clinical trials truly show efficacy.

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Fig. 1: The current hypothesis for anticancer mechanisms of oncolytic virotherapy.

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Acknowledgements

E.A.C. acknowledges research support by the US NIH National Cancer Institute under awards 2P01CA163205, CA069246-20, and P50CA165962. P.P. acknowledges research support by the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke under award 5K08NS101091. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

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Correspondence to E. Antonio Chiocca.

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E.A.C. is a consultant for Advantagene and DNAtrix. He has also previously been a consultant for Tocagen and Ziopharm Oncology. P.P. declares no competing interests.

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The ClinicalTrials.gov database: www.clinicaltrials.gov

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Peruzzi, P., Chiocca, E.A. Viruses in cancer therapy — from benchwarmers to quarterbacks. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 15, 657–658 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41571-018-0077-0

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