Double-faceted mechanism of parvoviral oncosuppression

The H-1 parvovirus (H-1PV) exerts oncosuppressive action that has two components: oncotoxicty and immunostimulation. While many human tumor cells, including conventional drug-resistant ones, can be killed by H-1PV, some fail to support progeny virus production, necessary for infection propagation in neoplastic tissues. This limitation can be overcome through forced selection of H-1PV variants capable of enhanced multiplication and spreading in human tumor cells. In the context of further developing H-1PV for use in cancer therapy, arming it with immunostimulatory CpG motifs under conditions preserving replication and oncolysis enhances its action as an anticancer vaccine adjuvant. A first clinical study of H-1PV treatment in glioma patients has yielded evidence of intratumoral synthesis of the viral oncotoxic protein NS1 and immune cell infiltration.