BBB seminar: Antonio Marchini

Antonio Marchini
Laboratory of Oncolytic-Virus-Immuno-Therapeutics (LOVIT), Luxembourg Institute of Health, Strassen, Luxembourg, and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany

Oncolytic viruses (OVs) are of growing interest as cancer therapeutics for their ability to kill tumour cells both directly by inducing oncolysis and indirectly by activating antitumour immune responses. Among the clinically relevant oncolytic viruses there is the rat protoparvovirus H-1PV. H-1PV is not pathogenic for humans and possesses oncolytic and oncosuppressive properties demonstrated in a number of in vitro and in vivo models. The results of a first phase I/IIa clinical trial in patients with glioblastoma indicate that H-1PV treatment is safe, well tolerated and associated with first signs of anticancer efficacy. However, the wild type virus at the regimes used was unable to eradicate the tumour indicating that further development is necessary to improve clinical outcome. Our ultimate objective is to improve the anticancer efficacy of H-1PV at the preclinical level and move most promising therapies into the clinic. The following will be presented: 1) Brief overview on oncolytic parvovirus H-1PV and its anticancer activity, 2) Results of a phase I/IIa clinical trial using H-1PV in patients with recurrent glioblastoma, 3) Rational design of combination treatments to enhance the anticancer potential of H-1PV, 4) Second generation of H-1PV based vectors.


Chairperson: Hrvoje Miletic, Department of Biomedicine