Mesenchymal stem cells as carrier cells to enable effective intratumoral delivery of oncolytic virus for oncolytic virotherapy: a systematic review

TL;DR

This systematic review explores using mesenchymal stem cells as carriers to improve the delivery and efficacy of oncolytic viruses in cancer treatment, addressing current delivery challenges in oncolytic virotherapy.

Contribution

It highlights the potential of mesenchymal stem cells as carrier cells to enhance intratumoral delivery of oncolytic viruses, overcoming delivery limitations of conventional methods.

Findings

Mesenchymal stem cells can serve as effective carriers for oncolytic viruses.

Carrier cell approach improves targeted delivery to tumors.

Potential to increase the efficacy of oncolytic virotherapy.

Abstract

Oncolytic viruses, which may be naturally occurring or genetically engineered, are a type of virus that infects and destroy cancer cells preferentially. Owing to their selectivity, they outperform conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which both have a tendency to impact non-target cells and cause unwanted adverse side effects. Oncolytic virotherapy is a type of cancer treatment in which oncolytic viruses are deliberately introduced into patients affected with cancers in order for them to infect and destroy cancer cells locally or systemically, in a manner analogous to chemotherapy but with a greater degree of selectivity. Multiple studies indicate that oncolytic virotherapy is effective in vitro but in vivo findings remain ambiguous due to the approach's primary limitation: inefficient therapeutic agent delivery to its target, which is heavily influenced by the immune system. Here, we propose overcoming this limitation by exploiting a recent discovery in cancer research: a carrier cell. By exploiting their tumor-promoting activities, mesenchymal stem cells may be employed for cancer therapy by serving as a carrier for the oncolytic viruses toward their target. This approach directly addresses the limitation of conventional oncolytic virotherapy, where oncolytic viruses are often poorly delivered after systemic administration.