Immunomodulatory cancer therapy is witnessing the rise of viral immunotherapy. The oncolytic influenza A virus, although promising in preclinical investigations, remains to be implemented in clinical practice. Recent progress in genetic engineering, coupled with experiential insights, offers opportunities to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of the influenza A virus. This review explores the use of the influenza virus, its attenuated forms, and associated vaccines in cancer immunotherapy, highlighting their respective advantages and challenges. We further elucidate methods for engineering influenza viruses and innovative approaches to augment them with cytokines or immune checkpoint inhibitors, aiming to maximize their clinical impact. Our goal is to provide insights essential for refining influenza A virus-based viral tumor immunotherapies.
Humans ; Neoplasms/immunology* ; Immunotherapy/trends* ; Influenza A virus/immunology* ; Oncolytic Virotherapy/trends* ; Animals ; Cancer Vaccines/therapeutic use* ; Oncolytic Viruses ; Genetic Engineering ; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors/therapeutic use*

Human adenoviruses are widespread causative agent that induces respiratory diseases, epidemic keratoconjunctivitis and other related diseases. Adenoviruses are commonly used in experimental and clinical areas. It is one of the most commonly used virus vectors in gene therapy, and it has attracted a lot of attention and has a high research potential in tumor gene therapy and virus oncolytic. Here, we summarize the biological characteristics, epidemiology and current application of adenovirus, in order to provide reference for engineering application of adenovirus.
Adenovirus Infections, Human ; epidemiology ; virology ; Adenoviruses, Human ; genetics ; Genetic Engineering ; methods ; trends ; Genetic Vectors ; Humans ; Oncolytic Virotherapy ; trends ; Oncolytic Viruses ; genetics ; Virus Replication

Oncolytic adenoviruses (Ads), which are live, replication-competent viruses that can selectively replicate in tumor cells and lead to cell lysis, have been used in tumor therapy. But due to the complexity and high mutability of human tumors, it becomes a major strategy to improve the selectivity, efficacy, and safety of oncolytic Ads. The oncolytic Ads that can express short hairpin RNA, cytokines, suicide gene, and matrix-modulating proteins have higher antitumor activity than the wild type. Tumor-specific promoters, especially hTERT and HRE promoters, increase the selectivity of oncolytic Ads for tumor cells. Moreover, oncolytic Ads surface-modified by polyethylene glycol (PEG), liposomes, biodegradable nanoparticles, and polypeptides have reduced immunogenicity and hepatotoxicity and improved antitumor activity when systemically administered, and the selectivity of oncolytic Ads can be significantly increased when linking PEG to antibodies, small peptides, cytokines, and ligands. Therefore, engineered oncolytic Ads combining the advantages of viral and non-viral vectors, as well as immunotherapy, are a promising strategy for improving the efficacy of targeted virotherapy.
Adenoviridae ; genetics ; physiology ; Animals ; Humans ; Neoplasms ; therapy ; virology ; Oncolytic Virotherapy ; trends ; Virus Replication

For a long time past viruses have been recognized as being tumoricidal. At present, researchers are still pursuing studies and constructing more suitable oncolytic viruses for treating different malignant tumors. Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) has been known as the most potential oncolytic virus among all the viruses. In this overview, we summarize the current situation of oncolytic viruses, the biology of HSV-1, its construction and application of its recombinant, and we debate on the feasibility and prospect of HSV-1 mutants labeled with radionuclides for cancer therapy.
Herpesvirus 1, Human ; genetics ; physiology ; Humans ; Mutation ; Neoplasms ; radiotherapy ; Oncolytic Virotherapy ; methods ; trends ; Oncolytic Viruses ; genetics