ABSTRACT
Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is neuropathogenic in rodents but can be attenuated 50-fold by engineering the mouse interferon-beta (IFN-ß) gene into its genome. Intravenously administered VSVs encoding IFN-ß have potent activity against subcutaneous tumors in the 5TGM1 mouse myeloma model, without attendant neurotoxicity. However, when 5TGM1 tumor cells were seeded intravenously, virus-treated mice with advanced myeloma developed clinical signs suggestive of meningoencephalitis. Co-administration of a known active antimyeloma agent did not prolong survival, further suggesting that deaths were due to viral toxicity, not tumor burden. Histological analysis revealed that systemically administered 5TGM1 cells seed to the CNS, forming meningeal tumor deposits, and that VSV infects and destroys these tumors. Death is presumably a consequence of meningeal damage and/or direct transmission of virus to adjacent neural tissue. In light of these studies, extreme caution is warranted in clinical testing of attenuated VSVs, particularly in patients with CNS tumor deposits.
Subject(s)
Meningeal Neoplasms/therapy , Meningeal Neoplasms/virology , Multiple Myeloma/therapy , Multiple Myeloma/virology , Oncolytic Virotherapy/methods , Vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus/genetics , Vesiculovirus/genetics , Animals , Disease Models, Animal , Female , Interferon-beta/genetics , Meningeal Neoplasms/pathology , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Multiple Myeloma/pathologyABSTRACT
Several clinical trials have shown that oncolytic herpes simplex virus type 1 (oHSV-1) can be safely administered to patients. However, virus replication in tumor tissue has generally not been monitored in these oHSV clinical trials, and the data suggest that its oncolytic potency needs to be improved. To facilitate noninvasive monitoring of the in vivo spread of an oHSV and to increase its antitumor efficacy, the gene coding for human sodium iodide symporter (NIS) was incorporated into a recombinant oHSV genome and the corresponding virus (oHSV-NIS) rescued in our laboratory. Our data demonstrate that a human prostate cancer cell line, LNCap, efficiently concentrates radioactive iodine after the cells have been infected in vitro or in vivo. In vivo replication of oHSV-NIS in tumors was noninvasively monitored by computed tomography/single-photon emission computed tomography imaging of the biodistribution of pertechnetate and was confirmed. LNCap xenografts in nude mice were eradicated by intratumoral administration of oHSV-NIS. Systemic administration of oHSV-NIS prolonged the survival of tumor-bearing mice, and the therapeutic effect was further enhanced by administration of (131)I after the intratumoral spread of the virus had peaked. oHSV-NIS has the potential to substantially enhance the outcomes of standard therapy for patients with prostate cancer.
