Bortezomib Used To Enhance Cancer Fighting Virus Therapy

Researchers at the Ohio State University Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute have announced that low doses of bortezomib could help to improve the effectiveness of a cancer killing virus. Oncolytic viruses have been developed to kill cancer cells. Research has suggested that oncolytic viruses have potential in treating different cancers, including brain cancer and other solid tumors. The Ohio State researchers found that combining bortezomib with cancer fighting virus therapy could improve the effectiveness of the virus and allow it to kill more cancer cells.

The results of the Ohio State research were published in Clinical Cancer Research. Balveen Kaur, PhD, professor and vice chair of research at the Department of Neurological Surgery and Radiation Oncology, said that the results of the research could lead to a new treatment strategy for cancer patients. “These findings pave the way for a treatment strategy for cancer that combines low doses of bortezomib with an oncolytic virus to maximize the efficacy of the virus with little added toxicity. Because bortezomib is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration, a clinical trial could be done relatively quickly to test the effectiveness of the drug-virus combination,” he said.

Kaur’s team used the herpes simplex virus-type 1 oncolytic virus in their research. “To our knowledge, this study is the first to show synergy between an oncolytic HSV-1-derived cancer killing virus and bortezomib," Kaur said. "It offers a novel therapeutic strategy that can be rapidly translated in patients with various solid tumors.”

Bortezomib is currently approved by the FDA under the brand name of Velcade for treating multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma.