This could end up paving the way for a new generation of treatments for cancer. The findings of this trial marked the first positive phase of 3 trial results for cancer Virotherapy.
If the drug, T-VEC, could be more widely available for cancer patients by next year. T-Vec is a modified derivative of the herpes virus that causes cold sores. The drug is injected into the tumor. After it has been injected, GM-CSF (granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor) is produced, and this stimulates an immune response which fights the cancer.
The trial was conducted by scientists at the Institute for Cancer Research in London. One in 10 of the 26 percent of patients who responded to the herpes virus treatment saw that their tumors vanished completely. Another 16 percent of patients saw their tumors reduce in size by more than 50 percent.
The phase III trial was led by professor Kevin Harrington, and it involved 436 patients. Some were given the treatment and other patients were given a control immunotherapy. Harrington said that it is not an exaggeration to say that this is a first-in class agent, and a brand new type of cancer treatment.