A Virus that Targets Cancer

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Researchers have shown for the first time that a single intravenous infusion of a genetically engineered virus can home in on cancer, killing tumor cells in patients without harming healthy tissue.

Scientists have been intrigued for decades with the idea of using viruses to alert the immune system to seek and destroy cancerous cells. That interest has taken off in recent years as advances in genetic engineering allow them to customize viruses that target tumors.

The field received a boost in January when biotech giant Amgen Inc agreed to pay up to $1 billion for BioVex, the developer of experimental cancer-fighting virus OncoVex. But the only "oncolytic virus" so far approved by a regulatory agency is for treatment of head and neck cancer in China.

In a study published in.............read more