Designing and building oncolytic viruses

Maroun, Justin; Muñoz-Alía, Miguel; Ammayappan, Arun; Schulze, Autumn; Peng, Kah-Whye; Russell, Stephen

Because the risks of OV transmission are typically unknown when first-in-human Phase I trials are initiated, it is usual to implement standard infection containment measures throughout these studies and to carefully monitor body fluids for the appearance and disappearance of viral genomes and infectious virus progeny [191] . For certain viruses, containment may be considered unnecessary, particularly when there is already widespread population immunity to the OV in question (e.g., measles) or when there has been extensive human experience of exposure to a related virus in the form of a live viral vaccine (e.g., vaccinia). Contingency plans may also be required calling for quarantine of OV-treated patients if treatment toxicity is associated with a longer period of shedding. In reality, to date there has been no instance in which transmission of an OV from a patient to a caregiver or other contact has been demonstrated, and there are no examples of long-term virus persistence or shedding in a treated patient.