Modified virus kills brain cancer in mice

NEW YORK, Nov 10 (Reuters) An engineered form of a virus can infect and kill malignant glioma cells while leaving normal cells unharmed, according to new research findings.

In its natural form, vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is a potent cancer-killer in a number of tumor cell types, including brain tumors called gliomas, but it can be lethal. ''We engineered VSV to make it safer,'' Dr Peter A Forsyth, of the Clark Smith Integrative Brain Center at the University of Calgary, Canada, noted in comments to Reuters Health.

The researchers evaluated the susceptibility of 14 malignant glioma cell lines to infection and killing by the modified VSV. It infected and killed all 14 cell lines but had no effect in normal cell lines, the team reports in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

In mice carrying human malignant glioma, the tumor regressed markedly after it was injected with modified VSV. When the agent was given intravenously, mice treated with live mutant VSV survived significantly longer than those injected with dead virus.

This means, Forsyth pointed out, that mutant VSV ''can be given intravenously rather than injected directly into the brain, so it's easier for patients than an operation and if needed it can be given several times as an outpatient.'' Modified VSV ''is promising in mice and we are excited about it,'' he told Reuters Health, ''but we need to be cautious and continue to evaluate it before moving into a clinical trial.'' REUTERS BDP RN0933