Engineered virus can destroy cancer: study

The findings suggest that dl355 has potential to be an effective anticancer treatment. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Researchers have engineered a virus that selectively targets and kills cancer cells.

The virus, a type of adenovirus (a group of viruses that cause respiratory illnesses), known as dl355 has a stronger anticancer effect than another virus currently used in clinical practice.

Some viruses can be used to treat cancers, as they replicate within the cells until they burst and die.

The researchers modified the dl355 virus by deleting the gene involved in viral replication, then infected several types of cultured cancer cells with virus particles. Nearly all the cancer cells died within seven days.

In contrast, most normal cells infected with the virus did not die, even after seven days.

Several cancer cell lines managed to survive low doses of dl355, but all cancer cells were killed by the virus as the dose increased.

In addition, tumour growth was significantly suppressed when dl355 was administered to human tumour cells grown in mice.

The researchers from Hokkaido University in Japan, then compared the anticancer effects of dl355 with dl1520 another anticancer adenovirus currently used in clinical practice.

EEFECTIVE ANTICANCER TREATMENT

The former’s replication was higher in all cancer cell lines tested, including cervical and lung cancer cells, and was better at killing all but one type of cancer cell, when compared to dl1520.Both viruses only killed very few normal cells.

The modified adenovirus replicated and increased in number significantly more in cancer cells than it did in normal cells. This is because lack of the viral replication gene, makes the virus stable in stressed and cancerous cells, but it degrades rapidly in normal cells.

The findings suggest that dl355 has potential to be an effective anticancer treatment.

The researchers suggest that enhancing its stabilisation in cancer cells could further strengthen its effect, but researcher and molecular oncologist Fumihiro Higashino notes that further research is required.

“While we think dl355 has the potential to be an effective treatment method in dealing with many types of cancer, much more research needs to be done.

“When we think of a timeline, at least five more years of further research may be required, and possibly more, on top of clinical trials,” he said.

The study was published in the journal Oncology Reports.