The Zika virus – suspected of causing foetal brain defects – could be of use in the treatment of glioblastoma, according to a new study.
Dr Milan Chheda of Washington University, Missouri, USA, and colleagues explain that the glioblastomas develop using the activity of stem cells that proliferate and give rise to further tumour cells.
However, glioblastoma stem cells can go undetected by body’s immune system so are hard to destroy. They are resistant to chemotherapy and radiation, but must be prevented from creating new tumours after the original tumour is removed.
Dr Chheda said: "It is so frustrating to treat a patient as aggressively as we know how, only to see his or her tumour recur a few months later. We wondered whether nature could provide a weapon to target the cells most likely responsible for this return."
In The Journal of Experimental Medicine yesterday they outline a new potential approach using viruses, such as the Zika virus, that specifically target tumour cells.
Specifically, the Zika virus interrupts foetal brain development by targeting neural stem and progenitor cells. When it attacks adult brains is has a much weaker effect, as the fully-formed brain contains fewer active stem cells, the researchers say.
So they carried out tests which confirmed that Zika virus preferentially infected and killed patient-derived glioblastoma stem cells rather than other glioblastoma cell types or normal neural cells. Further tests on mice showed that the virus slowed tumour growth and significantly extended the lifespan of animals with aggressive glioma.
Co-author Dr Michael Diamond said: "Adults with Zika may suffer less damage from their infection, suggesting that this approach could be used with acceptable toxicity."
Zhu, Z. et al. Zika virus has oncolytic activity against glioblastoma stem cells. Journal of Experimental Medicine 5 September 2017 [abstract]
Leave a Reply