Autologous cancer cells undergoing oncolysis

Autologous cancer cells undergoing oncolysis refer to the patient's own malignant cells that are being selectively infected and destroyed by therapeutic agents, most commonly oncolytic viruses. This biological state is the core mechanism of oncolytic virotherapy, where engineered viruses replicate within tumor cells until the cell membrane ruptures, a process known as lysis [1, 2]. The resulting destruction not only reduces the physical tumor mass but also transforms the tumor microenvironment by releasing a potent mixture of tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) and damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) [3]. These components act as an 'in situ' vaccine, alerting the patient's immune system to the presence of the cancer and stimulating a systemic T-cell-mediated attack against both local and distant metastatic lesions [2, 4]. While highly promising, this target state presents challenges regarding viral delivery, potential off-target effects on healthy cells, and the risk of viral shedding to caregivers or family members [1, 3]. Sources: [1] FDA. (2015). Imlygic (talimogene laherparepvec) Prescribing Information. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2015/125564s000lbl.pdf [2] Kaufman, H. L., et al. (2015). Oncolytic viruses: a new class of immunotherapy. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. https://www.nature.com/articles/nrd4663 [3] Raja, J., et al. (2018). Oncolytic virus immunotherapy: future prospects for oncology. Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. https://jitc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40425-018-0358-z [4] Kroemer, G., et al. (2013). Immunogenic cell death in cancer therapy. Annual Review of Immunology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23215622/

Other names

Oncolytic tumor cellsVirus-infected cancer cellsLysing autologous tumor cellsOncolytic cancer cells

Direct viral-mediated lysis of cancer cells (oncolysis) leading to the release of tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) and damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), which induces a systemic, immunogenic cell death (ICD) and adaptive immune response.