In a new one medical study cancer patients were successfully treated with a modified herpes virus.
The drug RP2 was used. It infiltrates the tumor, spreads there and destroys the affected cells.
The 39-year-old patient Krzysztof Wojkowski has been cancer-free for two years thanks to the treatment „BBC“ reported.
Good news for cancer patients: A new cancer therapy that uses a modified herpesvirus to attack tumor cells has shown promise in early clinical trials. The drug called RP2 completely liberated a patient Krebs. The researchers are confident.
39-year-old patient Krzysztof Wojkowski from London said the „BBC“that his salivary gland cancer had continued to grow despite many treatments. Wojkowski was preparing for the end of his life when he found out regarding the experimental drug, which was available as part of a Phase 1 safety trial at the Institute of Cancer Research in the UK. After taking the drug for a short time, Wojkowski has been cancer-free for two years, as the “BBC” reports. Other patients in the study also had their tumors shrink. Three out of nine patients who received the study drug alone and seven out of 30 who received a combination treatment benefited from the experimental therapy.
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Further research is needed to classify the drug and its effect on cancer patients. However, RP2 seems to help some patients and caused only mild side effects such as fatigue. These early results are promising, said Jonathan Zager, a researcher at a Florida state cancer center who was not involved with the study. “We will see more studies in the near future. I’m excited and certainly not discouraged or skeptical,” Zager told us.
Cancer-free thanks to the herpes virus
The experimental therapy involves a weakened form of herpes simplex – the virus that causes cold sores. It has been modified to attack tumors as well. According to results on a medical conference in Paris were presented, viral therapy is designed to selectively enter cancer cells while leaving normal cells alone. The virus attacks the tumor directly, while most other cancer drugs have a systemic effect – i.e. are distributed throughout the organism.
Once infiltrated, the virus replicates until the cancer cell explodes. What’s unique regarding RP2 is that it delivers a “one-two punch” once morest tumors, not only destroying the cells but triggering the immune system to attack what’s left, study lead author Kevin Harrington shared in a press release press release With.
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The drug works similarly to T-Vec, a viral therapy that was approved in 2015 to treat advanced skin cancer and also uses a herpes virus. These viral therapies show promise for treating multiple cancers. “Really impressive” treatment responses have been seen in patients with advanced esophageal cancer and a rare type of eye cancer, Harrington told the BBC. This is a blessing for the patients. Many like Wojkowski had no other options until they heard regarding RP2. According to Harrington, RP2 might even work better than the T-Vec treatment.
This article was translated from English by Klemens Handke. You can find the original here.