Targeted Virus Compels Cancer Cells to Eat Themselves

An engineered virus that causes tumor cells to devour themselves was targeted. Cancer cells are unable to carry out apoptosis, and this virus enables cell death through autophagy. In autophagy the cells only consume certain organelles, whereas in apoptosis there is damage to the cell nucleus and DNA. The HTERT-Ad virus can only replicate with the enzyme telomerase, which is contained by cancer cells. Since only cancer cells contain this enzyme normal cells are unaffected.

The study was performed in mice with malignant gliomas in the brain. In rats injected with the virus the tumor average size was 39 cubic millimeters versus 200 cubic millimeters in rats that received a non replicating virus. In addition, rats injected with the virus lived for 50 days, while the others lived only 29 days.

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