Oncolytic virus therapy is an ideal and well-established concept as a promising cancer treatment strategy. Oncolytic viruses are a group of naturally occurring or genetically engineered viruses that selectively replicate and destroy tumor cells rather than normal cells. The preferential lysis of cancer cells effectively releases viral PAMP, molecular pattern signals and cytokines, promotes the maturation of antigen-presenting cells, and activates antigen-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses. These series of reactions initiate potent antitumor responses and mediate tumor regression at distant tumor sites not exposed to the virus.
Oncolytic virus therapy has achieved good results in the research of various solid tumors such as breast cancer, lung cancer, and ovarian cancer. Among them, induction of systemic innate and tumor-specific adaptive immune responses appears to be a key factor in tumor eradication by oncolytic viruses. Oncolytic viruses represent attractive combinatorial partners with different immunomodulatory and/or antitumor agents due to their favorable security. Advances in oncolytic virotherapy clinical research suggest that emerging cancer-targeting strategies are worthy of being a promising complement to classical therapies. However, the changes and interactions in the immune microenvironment (cytokines, chemokines, soluble antigens, immune checkpoints, etc.) and immune cells (innate immune cells and adaptive immune cells) in solid tumors after oncolytic virus treatment are complex and might be affected by many variables. Moreover, the factors affecting the balance between immune-mediated viral clearance and induction of antitumor immunity are not fully understood and require further study and evaluation.
This research topic aims to provide a forum to track the latest advances in oncolytic virotherapy in solid tumors (including, but not limited to, central nervous system tumors, melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, gastric cancer, breast cancer, colorectal tumor, hepatic carcinoma, etc.), with particular attention to the changes in the immune microenvironment and immune cells induced by oncolytic virotherapy, and to use these conditions to further improve its safety and efficacy.
We welcome the submissions of Original Research and Review articles covering preclinical in vitro and in vivo work, translational research, and clinical studies, focusing on, but not limited to, the bullet points below:
• Changes and functions of innate immune cells (such as DC cells, macrophages, NK cells, etc.) in oncolytic virotherapy.
• Changes and functions of adaptive immune cells (T cells, B cells) in oncolytic virotherapy.
• Changes in the immune microenvironment (cytokines, chemokines, soluble antigens, immune checkpoints, etc.) in oncolytic virotherapy.
• Engineering oncolytic viruses to stimulate anti-tumor immune responses more effectively.
• Appropriate animal models for validation of immune alterations in oncolytic virotherapy.
• Comparison of differences in immune cells and immune microenvironment among different kinds of oncolytic virus treatments.
• Combination therapy with oncolytic viruses and other immunotherapies involving in the immune microenvironment and immune cells in solid tumors.
• Combination therapy with oncolytic viruses and other adjuvant therapies (chemotherapy, radiotherapy, electric field therapy, conventional medical treatment, etc.) in solid tumors.
• Clinical study of oncolytic virotherapy involving the immune microenvironment and immune cells.
Please note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.

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