Herpes virus shows promise against head and neck cancer

A genetically-engineered cold sore virus could be effective against head and neck cancer, a small clinical trial suggests.

Scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust have completed a trial of the treatment involving 17 patients.

Participants received injections of the herpes simplex virus (called OncoVex) into their diseased lymph nodes, along with radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Publishing their findings in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, the study authors revealed that 14 patients (82.3 per cent) showed signs of head and neck tumour shrinkage.

In 93 per cent of cases, subsequent surgery to remove the lymph nodes revealed that there were no traces of residual cancer in the nodes.

The virus is thought to be effective against head and neck cancer because, unlike its unmodified version, it is only capable of multiplying inside cancer cells.

Dr Alison Ross, senior science information officer at Cancer Research UK, told the BBC that the small study “highlights the potential of using genetically modified viruses as a weapon to fight cancer”.