Researchers have long been aware that several viruses have an innate ability to kill cancer cells. Dmitriy Zamarin, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ’13-’16) and Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD (Clinical Investigator ’03-08) both at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, are combining that observation with currently approved cancer immunotherapies to deliver a "one-two punch" against cancer in clinical trials. The researchers have injected a non-pathogenic Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) into a tumor, triggering a powerful, widespread immune response that kills cancer cells not only in the tumor, but also outside the virus-infected region. In combination with checkpoint inhibitors that unleash the immune system’s full cancer-fighting power, they have shown that the treatment can overcome and even prevent immunotherapy resistance in mice. Positive results in patients may help expand the use of immunotherapies to a broader range of cancers, including solid tumors. These findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
