Self-replicating RNA/virus strategies in Cancers Call for Papers

Synthetic RNA platforms allow for rapid, scalable, and cell-free manufacturing of a variety of biologic therapeutics. A development pipeline is based on in vitro transcription of target protein-encoding sequences or immunotherapies as synthetic RNA transcripts, which are then formulated for delivery. This approach may enable a quicker response to individual treatments or rapidly emerging disease outbreaks.

Self-amplifying RNAs have shown enhanced antigen expression at lower doses compared to conventional mRNA, suggesting this technology may improve immunization, and self-amplifying RNAs have shown protective immunization in preclinical studies against multiple infectious diseases.

Self-amplifying RNAs are emerging as important therapeutic molecules for variety of diseases including cancer and infectious diseases, as the advantages of synthetic manufacturing approaches, and their potential for preventing and treating chronic infections are increasingly recognized.

Cancer Gene Therapy (Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Georgios Giamas) publishes the latest developments in gene and cellular therapies for cancer. As such the special issue editors, Drs Doug Jolly and H. Kim Lyerly would like to invite submissions focused on self-replicating RNA/virus strategies. We invite investigators to contribute original research articles, as well as review manuscripts.

Suggested potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

  • Clinical Studies using self replicating RNA virus, alpha virus.
  • Synthetic self replicating RNA.
  • Novel cancer vaccine strategies using self replicating RNA.
  • Gene delivery strategies using self replicating RNA
  • Other or emerging RNA  Replicon Systems and potential applications to cancer
  • Product development and potential commercialization issues for self-replicating vectors
  • Self-replicating  vehicles based on negative strand RNA viruses
  • Biodistribution of self-replicating RNAs
  • Development of the US army VEE vaccine

Submissions should:

  • Adhere to Cancer Gene Therapy's Guide to Authors
  • Be submitted to the journal on or before 28th February 2022
  • Include a note in the cover letter that the submission is for the Spotlight on self-replicating RNA/virus strategies in Cancers and also select this under ‘Special Section’ on the submission form

If you are interested in submitting, please send a proposal to the Guest Editors at CancerGeneTherapy@us.nature.com

Guest Editors: Drs. Doug Jolly and H. Kim Lyerly

Doug Jolly, Ph.D.
Dr. Jolly is an internationally recognized pioneer in the field of gene therapy and its industrial application. For most of the last thirty years he has been a senior biotechnology executive involved in translating gene-based products from research through clinical development and commercial manufacturing scale-up at the following companies: Viagene, Inc., Chiron Corporation, Oxford BioMedica, Inc., Advantagene, Inc. and Tocgen Inc., where he advanced the first in vivo application of an integrating retrovirus through global Phase 3 trials. He has published over 125 scientific articles and is an inventor on over 50 issued patents.

H. Kim Lyerly, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.S.S.O.
Dr. Lyerly is the George Barth Geller Professor of Cancer Research, Professor of Surgery, Pathology and Immunology, and former Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Duke University in North Carolina. Dr. Lyerly is internationally recognized expert in cancer therapy and immunotherapy and has published over 300 scientific articles and book chapters, and has edited 10 textbooks on surgery, cancer immunotherapy, and novel cancer therapies. He has co-founded or founded biotechnology companies Argos, Replicate and SONOKINE, as serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Oncosec.  Dr. Lyerly was appointed by President George Bush to serve on the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB), which oversees the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and served on the Global Health Sub-Committee of the NCAB. He has also been named to the National Institute of Health (NIH) Council of Councils, and the Board of the NIH Office of AIDS Research. He has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation and the Burroughs Wellcome Foundation, as well as external advisory boards for MD Anderson, University of Michigan, University of Chicago, University of Alabama, University of Arizona, Boston University, and Purdue University. He has served as an advisor to the University of Washington, and Case Western Reserve Clinical and Translational Science Institutes.