Senecavirus A (SVV)

Senecavirus A (SVA), widely known as Seneca Valley Virus (SVV), is a small, non-enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the Picornaviridae family (Hales et al., 2008). While it is a known pathogen in swine, causing idiopathic vesicular disease, it has gained significant attention in human medicine as a potent oncolytic virus, specifically the isolate SVV-001 (Vannucci et al., 2015). The virus exhibits a natural and highly selective tropism for neuroendocrine cancers, such as small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and neuroblastoma, by binding to its cellular receptor, Anthrax toxin receptor 1 (ANTXR1), also known as Tumor endothelial marker 8 (TEM8) (Miles et al., 2017). This receptor is frequently overexpressed on the surface of tumor cells and tumor-associated endothelial cells but is largely absent in normal tissues, providing a wide therapeutic window. Upon binding and entry, SVV undergoes selective replication within the malignant cells, leading to direct oncolysis and the subsequent release of tumor antigens that trigger a systemic anti-tumor immune response (Rudin et al., 2011). Clinical development has focused on its use as a monotherapy and in combination with checkpoint inhibitors, although the rapid induction of neutralizing antibodies remains a significant hurdle for repeated dosing and sustained efficacy.

Other names

Seneca Valley VirusSVV-001SVA

Oncolytic virotherapy via ANTXR1-mediated cell entry, selective replication in tumor cells, and induction of immunogenic cell death.