The role of viruses in cancer development versus cancer therapy - An oncological perspective

Sep 24, 2026

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Oncological research continues to seek novel therapeutic approaches due to the constraints of conventional cancer treatments. This review focuses on virotherapy, which uses oncolytic or genetically engineered viruses that selectively infect tumor cells, replicate, disrupt malignant cells, and trigger host antitumor immune responses. It also highlights viral vectors for targeted gene, drug, and immune-stimulating delivery, noting benefits both as monotherapy and in combinations with chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and other modulators with reduced adverse effects.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

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Introduction

Viruses in cancer development

DOI: 10. 1002/cam4 .5694 REVIEW The role of viruses in cancer development versus cancer therapy: An oncological perspective Hossein Javid1,2,3 | Alireza Sharbaf Mashhad3,4 | Shaghayegh Yazdani3,4,5 | Mahsa Akbari Oryani6 | Sanaz Akbari7 | Nastaran Rezagholinejad8 | Mahboubeh Tajaldini9 | Mehdi Karimi-Shahri6,10 1Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran 2Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Varastegan Institute for Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran 3Surgical Oncology Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran 4Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran 5Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran 6Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran 7Department of Biology, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran 8Department of Biochemistry, Payame Noor University (PNU), Mashhad, Iran 9Ischemic Disorder Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran 10Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Iran Correspondence Mehdi Karimi-Shahri, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. [Email:](Email: karimishm@mums.ac.ir)[ karimishm@mums.ac.ir](Email: karimishm@mums.ac.ir), [labratorylabratory@yahoo.com](labratorylabratory@yahoo.com) Abstract Despite great medical advances, oncological research is still looking for novel therapeutic approaches due to the limitation of conventional therapeutic agents. Virotherapy is one of these new emerging therapeutic approaches that attract attention with their widespread applications. Virotherapy use lives oncolytic viruses or genetically engineered viruses that selectively infect the tumor cells, replicate, and disrupt the cancerous cells that also induce their anticancer activity by stimulating the host antitumor immune response. Moreover, viruses are widely used as target delivery vectors for specifically delivering different genes, therapeutic agents, and immune-stimulating agents. In addition to having antitumor activity by themselves in combination with conventional therapeutic agents like immune therapy and chemotherapy, Virotherapy agents also elicit promising outcomes. Therefore, in addition to their promising result in monotherapy use, virotherapy agents can also be used in combination with conventional cancer therapy, epigenetic modulators, and even microRNAs without any cross-resistance, which allows the patient not to be deprived of her routine medicine. Still, this combination therapy reduces the adverse effect of the conventional therapies. All together suggest that virotherapy agents as novel potential agents in the field of cancer therapy. KEYWORDS carcinogen, oncolytic viruses, treatment, virotherapy This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2023 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1 | INTRODUCTION Cancer is well known as a major global health concern.1,2 The most conventional therapies that are already used for cancer and can extend the survival time of patients with cancer include surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy.3–5 However, all these conventional therapies have some limitations that have led to their failure in cancer treatment. Surgery is most commonly used to remove the tumor in the early stages, but it cannot be an effective and sufficient treatment alone; hence, it is often combined with other cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiation.3 Furthermore, surgery and radiotherapy are ineffective in disseminated cancers and are more efficient a

FAQs

What is virotherapy and how does it work in cancer treatment?

Virotherapy uses oncolytic or genetically engineered viruses that selectively infect tumor cells, replicate, and disrupt cancerous cells. It also promotes anticancer activity by stimulating the host antitumor immune response.

How are viruses used beyond their direct antitumor effects?

Viruses can serve as target delivery vectors to specifically deliver genes, therapeutic agents, and immune-stimulating molecules to relevant targets.

Why is combining virotherapy with conventional cancer therapy important?

The document states that virotherapy agents can be used in combination with conventional therapies, epigenetic modulators, and microRNAs, showing promising outcomes and reducing adverse effects compared with conventional treatments alone.

Sep 24, 2026

Uploaded by Ophelia