1. ¹Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Children's Hospital of Alabama and University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
2. ²Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neurology, Children's Hospital of Alabama and University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
3. ³Department of Neurology, Children's Hospital of Alabama and University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
4. ⁴Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital of Alabama and University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Correspondence: Gregory K Friedman, Department of Pediatrics, 1600 7th Avenue South, ACC 512, Birmingham, Alabama 35233-1711, USA. E-mail: gfriedman@peds.uab.edu

Received 27 January 2009; Accepted 16 March 2009; Published online 14 April 2009.

Abstract

Despite improving survival rates for children with cancer, a subset of patients exist with disease resistant to traditional therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. These patients require newer, targeted treatments used alone or in combination with more traditional approaches. Oncolytic herpes simplex virus (HSV) is one of these newer therapies that offer promise for several difficult to treat pediatric malignancies. The potential benefit of HSV therapy in pediatric solid tumors including brain tumors, neuroblastomas, and sarcomas is reviewed along with the many challenges that need to be addressed prior to moving oncolytic HSV therapy from the laboratory to the beside in the pediatric population.