Scientists have proposed an unusual approach to cancer treatment: modifying the influenza virus so that it can selectively target tumor cells and help the immune system destroy them. This was reported by News Medical, citing research in the field of oncolytic viral therapy.

The core idea is to reprogram the influenza virus so that it loses its ability to spread freely through healthy tissues while retaining the ability to enter cancer cells. Once inside a tumor, the virus begins to replicate and destroy the affected cells from within. At the same time, this process makes the tumor more “visible” to the immune system, providing additional signals that trigger an immune attack.

Such technologies belong to the field of oncolytic viruses — genetically modified viruses specifically designed to infect and destroy cancer cells without harming healthy tissue.

A number of experimental models have already shown that these viruses can transform “cold” tumors, which barely respond to the immune system, into “hot” tumors that are actively attacked by immune cells.

However, these methods are still at the preclinical or early research stages. Scientists are currently testing their safety and effectiveness, and widespread clinical use is still a long way off.