1. ¹University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and Department of Surgical Oncology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
2. ²Department of Pediatrics, Department of Radiology and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

Correspondence: Dr SH Thorne, Department of Surgical Oncology, University of Pittsburgh, 5115 Centre Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA. E-mail: thornesh@upmc.edu

Received 14 February 2008; Accepted 16 February 2008; Published online 20 March 2008.

Abstract

Despite significant advances in the development of tumor-selective agents, strategies for effective delivery of these agents across biological barriers to cells within the tumor microenvironment has been limiting. One tactical approach to overcoming biological barriers is to use cells as delivery vehicles, and a variety of different cell types have been investigated with a range of agents. In addition to transporting agents with targeted delivery, cells can also produce their own tumoricidal effect, conceal a payload from an immune response, amplify a selective agent at the target site and facilitate an antitumor immune response. We have reported a therapeutic combination consisting of cytokine induced killer cells and an oncolytic vaccinia virus with many of these features that led to therapeutic synergy in animal models of human cancer. The synergy was due to the interaction of the two agents to enhance the antitumor benefits of each individual component. As both of these agents display broad tumor-targeting potential and possess unique tumor killing mechanisms, together they were able to recognize and destroy a far greater number of malignant cells within the heterogeneous tumor than either agent alone. Effective cancer therapy will require recognition and elimination of the root of the disease, the cancer stem cell, and the combination of CIK cells and oncolytic vaccinia viruses has this potential. To create effective tumor-selective agents the viruses are modified to take advantage of the unique biology of the cancer cell. Similarly, if we are to develop targeted therapies that are sufficiently multifaceted to eliminate cancer cells at all stages of disease, we should integrate the virus into the unique biology of the cell delivery vehicle.