Development of delivery, targeting, and imaging strategies to improve oncolytic vesicular stomatitis virus therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a disease with rising incidence, limited treatment options and poor prognosis, representing a major worldwide health concern. Due to the vast deficit of viable treatment options, oncolytic viruses have emerged as promising alternative therapies to specifically target and lyse tumor cells. We have previously demonstrated the safety and efficacy of oncolytic vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) applied via hepatic arterial infusion to treat orthotopic HCC in immune-competent rats, and based on encouraging data such as these, a recombinant VSV vector has recently entered the clinic in…