Oncolytic Viruses to Treat Ovarian Cancer Patients - a Review of Results From Clinical Trials.

Oncolytic viruses are replication competent "live" viruses. They infect tumor cells, replicate highly selective inside and thereby destroy them. Because of the enormous advances in the field of genetic engineering and biotechnology during the last decade, virotherapy is increasingly used within clinical trials and proved to be safe and effective. In particular, treatment of ovarian cancer patients is one main focus of research. On the one hand, this is due to the poor prognosis of this dismal entity, resulting in the urgent need for novel therapeutics. On the other hand, as ovarian cancer typically spreads within the peritoneal cavity, intraperitoneal administration of oncolytic viruses is feasible. This paper provides an overview of promising results from clinical trials to treat ovarian cancer patients with oncolytic viruses.