Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Despite advances in the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer, it remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Canada. Oncolytic viruses (OV) represent an exciting new therapy as they target and kill cancer cells while sparing healthy cells, eliminating the toxic side effects of current treatments. Bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV-1) is an OV which selectively replicates in and kills lung tumour cells while having minimal detrimental effects in normal lung cells. Recent pre-clinical and clinical data suggest that enhancing the immune response is critical for OV efficacy. Evidence indicates that the induction of immunogenic cell death (ICD) correlates with increased antitumor immunity and favourable patient outcomes. We have shown that the induction of ICD by OVs increases anti-tumor effects in mouse tumour models. During ICD, several molecules are expressed on the surface of dying cells or are secreted into the surrounding tissue. Thus, I propose to (1) engineer BHV-1 to express ICD-inducing molecules, (2) evaluate the immunogenicity of ICD-BHV-1 in mouse models of lung cancer and (3) develop a clinical grade lot of ICD-BHV-1 for clinical trials in patients with advanced lung cancer. The development of BHV-1 as an OV will have a significant impact on the survival and quality of life of lung cancer patients.