Open AccessThe next frontier of oncotherapy: accomplishing clinical translation of oncolytic bacteria through genetic engineering
Author(s) -
Kaitlin M. Dailey,
JuliAnne E. Allgood,
Paige R. Johnson,
Mackenzie A Ostlie,
Kambri Schaner,
Benjamin D. Brooks,
Amanda E. Brooks
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
future microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.797
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1746-0921
pISSN - 1746-0913
DOI - 10.2217/fmb-2020-0245
Subject(s) - oncolytic virus , biology , immune system , tumor microenvironment , cancer , cancer cell , cancer research , cancer therapy , immunology , genetics
The development of a 'smart' drug capable of distinguishing tumor from host cells has been sought for centuries, but the microenvironment of solid tumors continues to confound therapeutics. Solid tumors present several challenges for current oncotherapeutics, including aberrant vascularization, hypoxia, necrosis, abnormally high pH and local immune suppression. While traditional chemotherapeutics are limited by such an environment, oncolytic microbes are drawn to it - having an innate ability to selectively infect, colonize and eradicate solid tumors. Development of an oncolytic species would represent a shift in the cancer therapeutic paradigm, with ramifications reaching from the medical into the socio-economic. Modern genetic engineering techniques could be implemented to customize 'Frankenstein' bacteria with advantageous characteristics from several species.