Use virus to kill liver cancer cells

Clinical trials have shown that the NV1020 is capable of killing cancer cells without harming surrounding healthy tissue. Experts hope the virus will become a new 'weapon' for future cancer treatment.

On July 7, scientists from MediGene AG (Germany) said NV1020, a genetically engineered herpes virus, is very promising in killing cancer cells.

The idea of ​​injecting this virus for cancer patients may sound strange, but scientists believe that one day the virus will become a new and effective weapon in the treatment of cancer.

The NV1020 is a modified version of herpes simplex virus. The genetic structure of this virus has been modified so that it can only replicate in cancer cells and destroy cancer cells without harming surrounding healthy tissue.

The latest results in testing NV1020 virus have been reported at the annual meeting of the European Cancer Society, held in Lugano, Switzerland.

At the conference, MediGene AG company representative reported positive results of 2 clinical trials of this virus in 13 patients. Axel Mescheder, the leader of MediGene AG, described a case of terminal cancer in which the cancer has spread to 10 locations around the liver and 4 other places in the patient's lungs.

1. Inject the virus NV1020 into the cancer block 2. The NV1020 replicates and grows in cancer cells 3. NV1020 only destroys cancer cells, does not harm healthy cells. 4. All cancer cells have been destroyed (Photo: MediGene AG)

This patient was injected with NV1020 virus 4 times, once a week, and then applied chemotherapy twice. Six months later, the ultrasound results showed that the liver cancer had almost disappeared, and the patient had lived for another 12 months.

Mescheder said: 'The reduction of almost all cancers has left a very strong impression on this patient. The tumor has almost completely disappeared. This is a truly exciting result in this first phase of clinical trials'.

Experts say treating liver cancer is extremely difficult, and doctors are also very difficult to predict the course of the disease. The liver is also where the cancer of the colon usually spreads.

According to the team, after successful animal testing, the results of recent human clinical trials have shown that the NV1020 is capable of effectively destroying liver and colon cancer cells.

Quang Thinh