A New Virotherapy to Treat Cancer

A recent study, for the first time, showed the presence of specific types of virotherapy that infect and kill human cancer, making cells healthy. The study conducted by the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, involving only two patients. Both received a single dose of the measles virus that has been engineered (MV-NIS), which is selectively toxic to myeloma plasma cells.

Multiple myeloma affects plasma cells in the bone marrow and cause bone and soft tissue tumors, which very rarely can be cured. This therapy brings complete remission at one patient, although only showed improvement at the second patient. 

"This is the first study to determine the feasibility of oncolitic systemic virotherapy for cancer that has spread," said Dr.. Stephen Russell, a May Clinic hematologist and lead author of the paper and one of the developers of the therapy as reported voanews.com, Monday (19/5). 

"These patients previously unresponsive at other therapies and experienced a recurrence." The therapy also increases the patient's immune system, making it able to "sweep" the rest of the cancer, he said. 

This therapy may work at other types of cancer. More testing will be done. This discovery subsequently published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.