Formidable tumors tamed by genetically modified … herpes?
A genetically engineered iteration of the herpes simplex virus has beaten back several advanced cancers in an early trial.
U.K researchers injected the drug, called RP2, directly into tumors against which standard therapies had failed.
RP2 is designed to multiply inside cancer cells—causing the tumor to “crash” like a computer hard drive contaminated with particularly nasty malware—while also blocking a protein so the immune system can mobilize its cancer-specific defenses.
The breakthrough was presented in September at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress (ESMO Paris 2022) and is described online by one of the two organizations conducting the research, the London-based Institute of Cancer Research (ICR).
10 out of 39 Helped = a Promising First Run Against Stubborn Cancers
In the Phase I trial, clinical researchers from ICR and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust administered RP2 to patients in two ways—alone and combined with the immunotherapy drug nivolumab (brand name Opdivo).
According to the ICR report, three of nine patients treated solely with RP2 saw their tumors shrink.
In one patient treated with RP2 alone, a tumor of the salivary gland faded and vanished. This patient was still cancer-free 15 months after starting the experimental treatment.
The other two patients in the RP2-only group had, respectively, esophageal cancer and a rare eye cancer that had spread to the liver. Both these cancers shrunk and still were not advancing 15 and 18 months post-treatment initiation.
As for the group receiving RP2 in combination with nivolumab, some 30 in number, cancers shrunk or stopped growing in four of nine patients with skin cancer, two of eight patients with uveal melanoma and one of three patients with head and neck cancer.
Of these seven patients, ICR states, six were still enjoying stalled cancer at the 14-month mark.
Virus Landed a ‘One-Two Punch’ Against Cancer
What’s more, patients indicated side effects were minorly bothersome across the board, and pathologists who performed biopsies found immunity cells proliferated while anticancer genes activated.
Lead researcher Kevin Harrington, MBBS, PhD, who holds appointments at both ICR and the Royal Marsden, says the trial shows that a genetically engineered, cancer-killing virus “can deliver a one-two punch against tumors, directly destroying cancer cells from within while also calling in the immune system against them.”
Kristian Helin, PhD, president and chief executive of the ICR, adds that viruses like herpes simplex are “one of humanity’s oldest enemies, as we have all seen over the pandemic. But our new research suggests we can exploit some of the features that make them challenging adversaries to infect and kill cancer cells.”
Full ICR coverage here.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.