Herpes Virus in Combination with Chemotherapy Kills Cancer Tumours and Cell: Study

Chemotherapy in combination with herpes virus can help ward off cancer, a latest study finds.

Two complementary McMaster studies show that the proper blend of herpes virus and chemotherapy can activate the immune system to fight with the cancerous tumours and cells.

"Cancer cells are constantly evolving to outsmart the body's immune response," lead author Sam Workenhe, a postdoctoral researcher in a press release. "Effective cancer therapies target tumour cells directly and initiate an 'anti-tumour' immune response that targets tumour cells, even in the absence of the original therapeutic agent."

The researchers genetically engineered Herpes Simplex Viruses (HSVs) in a way that it replicated internally site and killed only the cancerous cells. After this, they altered HSVs and injected into a tumor. This triggered the immune system of the body and killed tumor cells.

"In our first study, we used HSV-1 and HSV-2 oncolytic viruses to activate the immune response, and in a parallel study we combined this with chemotherapy and noticed it induced tumour regression," Workenhe said.

According to Karen Mossman, the chairperson of McMaster's Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences,  the combination can be effective and the immune systems can kill viruses that destroy the herpes faster.

"The beauty of that is even once the virus is long gone, the immune system is now also recognizing those tumour cells, and so the immune system can continue to clear those tumours," Mossman said.

He further explained that chemotherapy levels can be reduced to provide a less toxic environment for the patient.

The researchers stated that the patients undergoing this treatment might suffer from viral infection symptoms for a couple of days.

The findings were published in the scientific journals Molecular Therapy and Cancer Immunology Research, earlier this month.