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Cancers
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Oncolytic Viruses as an Emerging Aspect of Immune Oncology
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Oncolytic Viruses as an Emerging Aspect of Immune Oncology

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2025 | Viewed by 3886

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Jennifer Altomonte

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin II, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany
Interests: oncolytic viruses; immunotherapy; hepatocellular carcinoma; pancreatic cancer

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Oncolytic viruses (OVs), mainly known for their ability to specifically target and cause the lysis of cancer cells, have more recently become accepted as a unique and promising aspect of immuno-oncology. Through the process of virus replication and innate responses to the infection process in tumors, the tumor microenvironment (TME) often undergoes a reprogramming and a conversion of immune suppression into immune stimulation, which can lead to potent systemic immune responses directed against distant tumor cells throughout the body. Furthermore, by heating up the TME, solid cancers can be sensitized to other forms of immunotherapy (i.e., immune checkpoint inhibitors, adoptive cell therapies, tumor vaccines, etc.) through OV treatment. Due to their multimechanistic modes of action, OVs represent an exciting approach in immuno-oncology, which can be applied either in a monotherapy setting or as components of rationally designed combination approaches for potential synergistic effects.

The Special Issue aims to highlight this exciting translational approach in immuno-oncology. We are pleased to invite you to submit original contributions related to this topic, including reports on novel OV vectors with immuno-stimulatory potential, OV-based tumor vaccines, combination immunotherapy approaches, and clinical studies involving OV-based immunotherapeutics in cancer patients. 

We invite investigators to submit original research articles, as well as review articles, that will stimulate the scientific community and enhance the growing body of knowledge on oncolytic viruses and cancer immunotherapy. I/We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Jennifer Altomonte
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • oncolytic virus
  • virotherapy
  • immunotherapy
  • immuno-oncology
  • tumor vaccine

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2928 KiB  
Article
A Novel Chimeric Oncolytic Virus Mediates a Multifaceted Cellular Immune Response in a Syngeneic B16 Melanoma Model
by Sonja Glauß, Victoria Neumeyer, Lorenz Hanesch, Janina Marek, Nina Hartmann, Gabriela M. Wiedemann and Jennifer Altomonte
Cancers 2024, 16(19), 3405; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16193405 - 6 Oct 2024
Viewed by 583
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Oncolytic virotherapy is a promising approach in cancer immunotherapy. We have previously described a recombinant hybrid oncolytic virus (OV), VSV-NDV, which has a favorable safety profile and therapeutic immunogenicity, leading to direct oncolysis, abscopal effects, and prolonged survival in syngeneic in vivo [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Oncolytic virotherapy is a promising approach in cancer immunotherapy. We have previously described a recombinant hybrid oncolytic virus (OV), VSV-NDV, which has a favorable safety profile and therapeutic immunogenicity, leading to direct oncolysis, abscopal effects, and prolonged survival in syngeneic in vivo tumor models. While OVs are known to mediate systemic anti-tumor immune responses, the detailed characterization of local and systemic immune responses to fusogenic oncolytic virotherapy remains unexplored. Methods and Results: We analyzed immune cell compartments in the spleen, blood, tumor-draining lymph nodes (TDLNs), and tumors over the course of VSV-NDV therapy in a bilateral syngeneic melanoma mouse model. Our results revealed significant local infiltration and activation of T lymphocytes in tumors and globally in the blood and spleen. Notably, in vivo CD8+ T cell depletion led to complete abrogation of the tumor response, highlighting the crucial role of T cells in promoting the therapeutic effects of oncolytic VSV-NDV. In vitro co-culture experiments enabled the interrogation of human immune cell responses to VSV-NDV-mediated oncolysis. Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were efficiently stimulated by exposure to VSV-NDV-infected cancer cells, which recapitulates the in vivo murine findings. Conclusions: Taken together, these data characterize a broad anti-tumor immune cell response to oncolytic VSV-NDV therapy and suggest that CD8+ T cells play a decisive role in therapeutic outcome, which supports the further development of this chimeric vector as a multimechanistic immunotherapy for solid cancers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Oncolytic Viruses as an Emerging Aspect of Immune Oncology)
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22 pages, 12037 KiB  
Article
H-1 Parvovirus-Induced Oncolysis and Tumor Microenvironment Immune Modulation in a Novel Heterotypic Spheroid Model of Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma
by Assia Angelova, Milena Barf, Alexandra Just, Barbara Leuchs, Jean Rommelaere and Guy Ungerechts
Cancers 2024, 16(15), 2711; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16152711 - 30 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1150
Abstract
The rat protoparvovirus H-1 (H-1PV) is an oncolytic virus known for its anticancer properties in laboratory models of various human tumors, including non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) of B-cell origin. However, H-1PV therapeutic potential against hematological malignancies of T-cell origin remains underexplored. The aim of [...] Read more.
The rat protoparvovirus H-1 (H-1PV) is an oncolytic virus known for its anticancer properties in laboratory models of various human tumors, including non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) of B-cell origin. However, H-1PV therapeutic potential against hematological malignancies of T-cell origin remains underexplored. The aim of the present study was to conduct a pilot preclinical investigation of H-1PV-mediated oncolytic effects in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), a type of NHL that is urgently calling for innovative therapies. We demonstrated H-1PV productive infection and induction of oncolysis in both classically grown CTCL suspension cultures and in a novel, in vivo-relevant, heterotypic spheroid model, but not in healthy donor controls, including peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). H-1PV-mediated oncolysis of CTCL cells was not prevented by Bcl-2 overexpression and was accompanied by increased extracellular ATP release. In CTCL spheroid co-cultures with PBMCs, increased spheroid infiltration with immune cells was detected upon co-culture treatment with the virus. In conclusion, our preclinical data show that H-1PV may hold significant potential as an ingenious viroimmunotherapeutic drug candidate against CTCL. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Oncolytic Viruses as an Emerging Aspect of Immune Oncology)
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Graphical abstract

20 pages, 3278 KiB  
Article
In Vitro Sensitivity of Neuroendocrine Neoplasms to an Armed Oncolytic Measles Vaccine Virus
by Nikolai V. Scheicher, Susanne Berchtold, Julia Beil, Irina Smirnow, Andrea Schenk and Ulrich M. Lauer
Cancers 2024, 16(3), 488; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16030488 - 23 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1551
Abstract
Neuroendocrine neoplasms represent a heterogenous group of rare tumors whose current therapeutic options show only limited efficacy. Oncolytic viruses exert their mode of action through (onco-)lysis of infected tumor cells and the induction of a systemic antitumoral immune response in a virus-induced inflammatory [...] Read more.
Neuroendocrine neoplasms represent a heterogenous group of rare tumors whose current therapeutic options show only limited efficacy. Oncolytic viruses exert their mode of action through (onco-)lysis of infected tumor cells and the induction of a systemic antitumoral immune response in a virus-induced inflammatory micromilieu. Here, we investigated the potential of our well-established second-generation suicide-gene armed oncolytic measles vaccine virus (MeV-SCD) in five human NEN cell lines. First, (i) expression of the MeV receptor CD46 and (ii) its correlation with primary infection rates were analyzed. Next, (iii) promising combination partners for MeV-SCD were tested by employing either the prodrug 5-fluorocytosine, which is converted into the chemotherapeutic compound 5-fluorouracil, or the mTOR-inhibitor everolimus. As a result, MeV-SCD was found to kill all NEN tumor cell lines efficiently in a dose-dependent manner. This oncolytic effect was further enhanced by exploiting the prodrug-converting system, which was found to be highly instrumental in overcoming the partial resistance found in a single NEN cell line. Furthermore, viral replication was unaffected by everolimus, which is a basic requirement for combined use in NEN patients. These data suggest that MeV-SCD has profound potential for patients with NEN, thus paving the way for early clinical trials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Oncolytic Viruses as an Emerging Aspect of Immune Oncology)
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