Designing and building oncolytic viruses

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

Tumor vasculature can both aid and limit viral access. Tumors typically have an unorganized growth pattern, producing vasculature that is tumultuous and insufficient resulting in heterogeneous perfusion throughout the parenchyma [65] . Decreased perfusion limits the formation of infectious centers evenly throughout a tumor. Manipulating physiological parameters such as blood pressure and systemic vascular resistance can preferentially increase tumor perfusion and promote better delivery of viral vectors [66] . Once in a tumor vessel, the virus must move from the intravascular compartment into the interstitium by crossing the vascular endothelium to continue its journey through the interstitial space until finally reaching a permissive tumor cell.