Viral Therapy May Provide a New Weapon in Cancer Fight

A ubiquitous, harmless virus that is carried by most people at some point in their lives could help to fight cancer, studies suggest.

Some patients with incurable diseases are already benefiting from an experimental virus-based drug in clinical trials in Britain and North America.

Researchers hope that virus therapy could eventually form a third pillar alongside radiotherapy and chemotherapy as life-prolonging treatments for cancer patients, while avoiding some of the debilitating side-effects of those treatments.

The drug, Reolysin, has been developed from the reovirus, a biological agent that is found almost everywhere in the environment, most commonly in stagnant water or sewage.

Up to half of adults have been exposed to the virus by the time they are in their twenties, but because it does not affect normal cells most infections go unnoticed and cause only minor cold-like symptoms, if any.