The genetically modified herpes virus may help in the treatment of head and neck cancers, reports BBC News / Health.
A 17-patient study by the Institute of Cancer Research in London showed that the virus, when used alongside chemotherapy and radiotherapy, helped fight tumors in most patients.
About 8000 people annually suffer from head and neck cancers (which include cancers of the mouth, tongue and throat) only in Great Britain, and in Poland – slightly less (according to various sources, from 5 to 7 thousand people). The disease is favored by smoking, drinking alcohol and not taking care of oral hygiene. Early diagnosed neoplasms are treated relatively effectively, however, in many patients they are diagnosed at an advanced stage.
British scientists have used a modified herpes virus, which can only penetrate into neoplastic cells, but does not harm healthy ones. The virus enters the cancer cells and destroys them from the inside, and at the same time stimulates the immune system in two ways. Firstly, it produces the human immune system-activating protein, and secondly, a very characteristic viral protein that signals the immune cells to attack.
Of the 17 patients treated, 93 percent were free of tumor cells after surgical removal of the tumor, and 82 percent were disease-free more than two years later. With standard chemotherapy and radiotherapy, this percentage ranges from 35 to 55 percent.
There were no significant side effects. Further research is to begin later this year. Specialists will try to apply the herpes virus to other types of cancer. (PAP)