RE:RE:RE:RE:“Second mouse gets the cheese “CG Oncology bladder cancer study shows that “when you do everything well, you can get good clinical outcomes,” virologist Grant McFadden of Arizona State University says. The company chose a type of cancer that is easy to target. The modified virus powerfully stimulated the immune system. And the enrolled patients had not undergone previous chemotherapy that would prevent their immune systems from responding to their treatment.
Still another avenue to improve oncolytic viruses is pairing them with other immune therapies or with chemotherapy and radiation. Checkpoint inhibitors are obvious partners because they stymie tumors’ mechanisms for shutting down T cells.
The company Oncolytics Biotech has performed two successful phase 2 trials of a tumor-attacking reovirus, combined with various types of chemotherapy and checkpoint inhibitors, in patients with breast cancer or pancreatic cancer. The company hopes to begin phase III trials of the virus for both cancer types this year (2024).