EX VIVO EFFICACY

Oncolytic Virus Immunotherapy (OVT) is an innovative approach to cancer treatment that uses viruses capable of selectively targeting tumor cells. They destroy tumor cells, release tumor antigens, and stimulate the development of tumor-specific immunity. 

Despite a large body of preclinical evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of oncolytic viruses (OVs) in suppressing tumors, OVT has not yet reached its full potential in clinical practice, as clinical trial outcomes often fail to meet expectations based on preclinical data. The main reason lies in existing preclinical in vitro (tumor cell lines) and in vivo (mice with murine tumors and mice transplanted with human tumors) models, which have proven inadequate for predicting efficacy and safety in humans. 

To address this, we are developing a new methodology to determine whether an individual patient’s tumor is sensitive to specific oncolytic viruses. This method is based on short-term cultivation of breast cancer tissue in 2D and 3D formats, followed by testing its sensitivity to different oncolytic viruses (measles virus, mumps virus, and/or vesicular stomatitis virus). We will also monitor indicators of viral replication within tumor tissue. Establishing such an ex vivo/in vitro model could bring this form of immunotherapy closer to clinical application and lay the foundation for personalized oncolytic cancer treatment.

The project (IP-2024-05-4740) was funded by the Croatian Science Foundation in the amount of EUR 199,985.00.