Dengue virus, one of the world’s leading causes of illness
and death in the tropics, is now going to be used as a treatment for cancer.
The company, PrimeVax Immuno-Oncology, announced that it now
has a worldwide license with the U.S. Army that authorizes them to use the #45AZ5
strain of dengue virus 1. Before this, the virus had only been used in vaccine
testing, so this is a bold and unexpected move from PrimeVax.
The company will begin their human clinical trials of this
cancer treatment by combining the dengue virus with dendritic cell therapy. This
approach will destroy tumor cells from many directions: physiologically,
immunologically, and apoptosis-inducing pathways. The hope is that this therapy
will boost the patient’s self-immunity allowing them to battle their specific
cancer. Dengue virus’ role is to break the tolerance many advanced cancer
patients have for their tumor antigens by inducing high levels of cytokines.
It is also important to note that dengue virus infection isn’t
dangerous with first exposure, it’s more of an annoyance. The danger comes with
second exposure, which PrimeVax will take into account in their clinical
trials.
For the clinical trials, PrimeVax will offer this therapy to
metastatic melanoma patients after all standard therapies have failed. Once
they establish an appropriate level of safety and tolerability, they will then
target other cancers, such as glioblastoma and triple negative breast cancer.
We still have some waiting time before seeing any results
from this novel therapy. Currently, PrimeVax is preparing their clinical trial
site and once that is done, then they will begin recruiting patients.
-Mailo Numazu
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