Another Demonstrated Cancer-Killing Virus
A number of research groups have demonstrated the use of engineered viruses for the targeted destruction of cancer cells. Here is another, aimed at cancer stem cells this time, via EurekAlert!: "We have shown first in lab experiments and then in stem cell-derived human brain cancer in mice, that we have a tool that can target and eliminate the cells that drive brain tumors ... The virus was tested against the most aggressive brain tumor - glioblastoma multiforme, which originates in the glial cells that surround and support neurons. ... Research has shown that these cancer stem cells are the origin of the tumor, that they resist the chemotherapy and radiation that we give to our patients, and that they drive the renewed growth of the tumor after surgery. So we decided to test Delta-24-RGD against glioma stem cells and tumors grown from them ... Fueyo and colleagues developed Delta-24-RGD to prey on a molecular weakness in tumors and altered the virus so it could not replicate in normal tissue. They showed [in] 2003 that the virus eliminated brain tumors in 60 percent of mice who received injections directly into their tumors. The virus spreads in a wave through the tumors until there are no cancer cells left, then it dies."
Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-09/uotm-cvk090607.php