Polio virus therapy tested in prostate cancer patients

Duke University researchers are using a modified polio virus in an experimental treatment they hope to boost the survival of patients with incurable metastatic prostate cancer.

The Duke researchers gained notoriety last spring when 60 Minutes featured the success of early clinical trials using the polio virus in the fight against a deadly form of brain cancer.

Now, the team is applying this promising new therapy, known as PVSRIPO, in patients with advanced prostate cancer, Medical Xpress reports.

"The idea is that we have some success in brain tumor — now how do you move it into a non-central nervous system indication?" says Smita Nair, a cancer immunotherapy researcher at Duke, involved in the effort.

Once prostate cancer has spread to the lymph nodes, bones, or other organs, the outlook is grim for patients. According to the American Cancer Society, the five-year survival in the case of advanced, metastatic diseases is just 28 percent.

That’s why the new approach is so promising — it could provide an option to patients who currently have none.

In PVSRIPO therapy, the polio virus has been modified so it does not spread the disease, but specifically targets and destroys tumor cells while leaving healthy cells unscathed. It also boosts the effectiveness of the body’s own immune defenses to destroy cancer cells.

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