Tag: Oncolytic virus

From Ottawa to Sao Paulo, Brazil: A BioCanRx Lab Exchange

By: Fanny Tzelepis   Scientific collaboration is increasingly prevalent. Important advances in areas such as cancer biotherapeutics have resulted from combined efforts, complementary knowledge, and technology transfer. When I joined Dr. Jean-Simon Diallo’s laboratory, the immunotherapeutic properties of oncolytic virus were already apparent. In particular, the ability of oncolytic viruses to boost antigen-specific T cells… Read more »

First cancer-killing virus therapy approved by the FDA

On Oct. 27, 2015, the U.S. FDA gave its first approval for the use of a cancer-killing virus therapy, or oncolytic virus. Specifically, the FDA approved Amgen’s Imlygic, which is generically known as T-VEC, for the treatment of melanoma lesions in the skin and lymph nodes.   “This approval is a huge milestone for the… Read more »

Cancer patients treated in world-first clinical trial of Canadian viral therapy

Clinical Trials, Media release   Canadian researchers have launched the world’s first clinical trial of a novel investigational therapy that uses a combination of two viruses to attack and kill cancer cells, and stimulate an anti-cancer immune response. Previous research by this team and others worldwide suggests that this approach could be very powerful, and… Read more »

Pancreatic cancer loses viral defences when talking with supporting cells

Media release   Ottawa researchers have unlocked a way to make pancreatic cancer cells more vulnerable to cancer-killing viruses, known as oncolytic viruses. Outlined in a paper published today by Nature Medicine, the scientists have discovered how they can exploit the communication, or cross-talk, between pancreatic cancer and a specific cell type that supports the… Read more »