title: Oncolytic virotherapy for urological cancers.
abstract: Oncolytic virotherapy is a cancer treatment in which replication-competent viruses are used that specifically infect, replicate in and lyse malignant tumour cells, while minimizing harm to normal cells. Anecdotal evidence of the effectiveness of this strategy has existed since the late nineteenth century, but advances and innovations in biotechnological methods in the 1980s and 1990s led to a renewed interest in this type of therapy. Multiple clinical trials investigating the use of agents constructed from a wide range of viruses have since been performed, and several of these enrolled patients with urological malignancies. Data from these clinical trials and from preclinical studies revealed a number of challenges to the effectiveness of oncolytic virotherapy that have prompted the development of further sophisticated strategies. Urological cancers have a range of distinctive features, such as specific genetic mutations and cell surface markers, which enable improving both effectiveness and safety of oncolytic virus treatments. The strategies employed in creating advanced oncolytic agents include alteration of the virus tropism, regulating transcription and translation of viral genes, combination with chemotherapy, radiotherapy or gene therapy, arming viruses with factors that stimulate the immune response against tumour cells and delivery technologies to ensure that the viral agent reaches its target tissue.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 2B5, Canada.
authors.forename: Zahid
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Delwar
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University of British Columbia, Level 6, 2775 Laurel Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V5Z 1M9, Canada.
authors.forename: Kaixin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Prostate Research Centre, Vancouver General Hospital, 2660 Oak Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6H 3Z6, Canada.
authors.forename: Paul S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Rennie
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 2B5, Canada.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D050130:Oncolytic Virotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D050504:Oncolytic Viruses / Q000235:genetics*; D014571:Urologic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents