Delivery of Oncolytic Reovirus by Cell Carriers

Oncolytic virus therapy is a rapidly expanding branch of cancer immunotherapy and represents a genuine opportunity to improve currently available treatment options. However, as single agents oncolytic viruses have shown only moderate clinical benefit and many challenges remain before their full potential is realized. Central to this is the efficient delivery of the virus to the tumor site and potentiation of the antitumor immune response. This chapter describes the loading of oncolytic reovirus onto monocytes which act as carriers for delivery of the virus to the tumor site and, as antigen presenting cells, may also thereby potentiate the development of an adaptive antitumor immune response

Antibody-Neutralized Reovirus Is Effective in Oncolytic Virotherapy

Immunotherapy is showing promise for otherwise incurable cancers. Oncolytic viruses (OVs), developed as direct cytotoxic agents, mediate their antitumor effects via activation of the immune system. However, OVs also stimulate antiviral immune responses, including the induction of OV-neutralizing antibodies. Current dogma suggests that the presence of preexisting antiviral neutralizing antibodies in patients, or their development during viral therapy, is a barrier to systemic OV delivery, rendering repeat systemic treatments ineffective. However, we have found that human monocytes loaded with preformed reovirus–antibody complexes, in which the reovirus is fully neutralized, deliver functional replicative reovirus to tumor cells, resulting in tumor cell infection and lysis. This delivery mechanism is mediated, at least in part, by antibody receptors (in particular FcγRIII) that mediate uptake and internalization of the reovirus/antibody complexes by the monocytes. This finding has implications for oncolytic virotherapy and for the design of clinical OV treatment strategies

Absence of Association between N-Acetyltransferase 2 Acetylator Status and Colorectal Cancer Susceptibility: Based on Evidence from 40 Studies

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: N-Acetyltransferase (NAT) 2 is an important enzyme involved in the metabolism of different xenobiotics, including potential carcinogens, whose phenotypes were reported to be related to individual susceptibility to colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the results remain conflicting. To assess the relationship between NAT2 phenotypes and CRC risk, we performed this meta-analysis. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify all case-control or cohort studies of NAT2 acetylator status on the susceptibility of CRC by searching of PubMed and EMBASE, up to May 20, 2011. Crude odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the association. RESULTS: A total of over 40,000 subjects from 40 published literatures were identified by searching the databases. No significantly elevated CRC risk in individuals with NAT2 slow acetylators compared with fast acetylators was found when all studies pooled (OR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.87-1.04, I(2) = 52.6%). While three studies contributed to the source of heterogeneity were removed, there was still null result observed (OR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.90-1.03, P = 0.17 for heterogeneity, I(2) = 17.8%). In addition, we failed to detect any associations in the stratified analyses by race, sex, source of controls, smoking status, genotyping methods or tumor localization. No publication bias was observed in this study. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis suggests that the NAT2 phenotypes may not be associated with colorectal cancer development

Lymphokine-activated killer and dendritic cell carriage enhances oncolytic reovirus therapy for ovarian cancer by overcoming antibody neutralization in ascites

Reovirus is an oncolytic virus (OV), which acts by both direct tumor cell killing and priming of antitumor immunity. A major obstacle for effective oncolytic virotherapy is effective delivery of OV to tumor cells. Ovarian cancer is often confined to the peritoneal cavity and therefore i.p. delivery of reovirus may provide the ideal locoregional delivery, avoiding systemic dissemination. However, ovarian cancer is associated with an accumulation of ascitic fluid, which may interfere with oncolytic viral therapy. Here, we investigated the effect of ascites on reovirus-induced oncolysis against primary ovarian cancer cells and ovarian cancer cell lines. In the absence of ascites, reovirus was cytotoxic against ovarian cancer cells; however, cytotoxicity was abrogated in the presence of ascitic fluid. Neutralizing antibodies (NAb) were identified as the cause of this inhibition. Loading OV onto cell carriers may facilitate virus delivery in the presence of NAb and immune cells which have their own antitumor effector activity are particularly appealing. Immature dendritic cells (iDC), Lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells and LAKDC cocultures were tested as potential carriers for reovirus for tumor cell killing and immune cell priming. Reovirus-loaded LAKDC, and to a lesser degree iDC, were able to: (i) protect from NAb and hand-off reovirus for tumor cell killing; (ii) induce a proinflammatory cytokine milieu (IFNɣ, IL-12, IFNα and TNFα) and (iii) generate an innate and specific antitumor adaptive immune response. Hence, LAKDC pulsed with reovirus represent a novel, clinically practical treatment for ovarian cancer to maximise both direct and innate/adaptive immune-mediated tumor cell killing

Transfer of metyrapone and Its metabolite, rac-Metyrapol, into Breast milk

Metyrapone, an inhibitor of corticosteroid biosynthesis, is used in the diagnosis and treatment of adrenocortical hyperfunction. The authors describe the excretion of metyrapone and its metabolite, rac-metyrapol, in milk from a lactating woman requiring metyrapone treatment (250 mg 4 times daily). At steady state, the average concentrations in milk and absolute and relative infant doses were 11 microg/L, 1.7 microg/kg/d, and 0.02%, respectively, for metyrapone, and 48.5 microg/L, 7.3 microg/kg/d, and 0.08%, respectively, for rac-metyrapol. The findings suggest that maternal metyrapone use during breastfeeding is extremely unlikely to be a significant risk for the breastfed infant.Neil J. Hotham, Kenneth F. Ilett, L. Peter Hackett, Mark R. Morton, Peter Muller and William M. Hagu