A virus against cancer?

A virus already saving the lives of millions of children could become a new weapon against Cancer. This virus is one that is used to immunize against measles, a live version, but "down" the virus behind the childhood disease. "There are viruses that preferentially infect cells cancer. This is particularly the case of virus vaccine against measles, "said Mark Gregory, director of research at the Institute for Therapeutic Research, University of Nantes." These viruses enter cells cancer and cause their destruction " continues the researcher. We talk about viruses " oncolytic ".

Funded by the ARC *, Mark Gregory and his team have begun to address these viruses following a discussion with a researcher from the Institute Pasteur in Paris, Frédéric Tangy. Nantes team had discovered that many cells cancer presented on their surface an unusual amount of a protein called CD 46. The researcher Paris knew about him that virus attenuated vaccine against measles had just needs this protein to infect human cells. Hence was born the idea of using this virus to destroy cells cancer.


 

Other oncolytic viruses

Other virus oncolytic exist and it is even possible to make new by changing virus existing for them to acquire the necessary properties. The strain of the vaccine against measles, however, presents significant advantages: used since the late 60s to vaccinate every year millions of children, the safety of its administration is more to prove. Moreover, this virus has an antitumor activity "bonus" it will not only cause the destruction of tumor cells it infects, but it will simultaneously activate the cells of the patient's immune system to attack that they also to the tumor. "The destruction of cells cancer virus leads to the production of danger signals that are recognized by the immune system, "said Marc Gregoire." An immune response specifically directed against the tumor cells are then put in place. Some data suggest that there is even production of immune memory cells ". If this is indeed the case, the virus vaccine against measles could not only destroy tumors, but also prevent relapse: when a tumor recurrence in the body, immune cells attack memories there. This last point remains to be verified and Drs Gregory and Tangy actively engaged.

The use of this virus and other virus oncolytic is already being tested in clinical trials, especially at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester (Minnesota, USA). The results of U.S. trials are not yet published, but according to Marc Grégoire, they would rather encouraging. The viruses tested at the Mayo Clinic to date would treat many types of CancerSuch as myeloma, gliomas, glioblastomas, the carcinomas ovarian or even Breast cancer. "We are working on the model of mesothelioma [cancer of the pleura], but we think also to test this approach on melanoma and lung cancer. The base system is ready. There are still many details to confirm, but the use of antitumor oncolytic viruses such as the vaccine against measles could start in no distant future ".