Clin Cancer Res. 2022 Oct 14:CCR-22-1382. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-22-1382. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Oncolytic virotherapy with herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV) has shown promise for treatment of pediatric and adult brain tumors; however, completed and ongoing clinical trials have utilized intratumoral/peritumoral oncolytic HSV (oHSV) inoculation due intraventricular/intrathecal toxicity concerns. Intratumoral delivery requires an invasive neurosurgical procedure, limits repeat injections, and precludes direct targeting of metastatic and leptomeningeal disease. To address these limitations, we determined causes of toxicity from intraventricular oHSV and established methods for mitigating toxicity to treat disseminated brain tumors in mice.
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: HSV-sensitive CBA/J mice received intraventricular vehicle, inactivated oHSV, or treatment doses (1×107 plaque-forming units) of oHSV, and toxicity was assessed by weight loss and immunohistochemistry. Protective strategies to reduce oHSV toxicity, including intraventricular low-dose oHSV or interferon inducer polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly I:C) prior to oHSV treatment dose, were evaluated and then utilized to assess intraventricular oHSV treatment of multiple models of disseminated CNS disease.
RESULTS: A standard treatment dose of intraventricular oHSV damaged ependymal cells via virus replication and induction of CD8+ T cells, whereas vehicle or inactivated virus resulted in no toxicity. Subsequent doses of intraventricular oHSV caused little additional toxicity. Interferon induction with phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor-2α (eIF2α) via intraventricular pretreatment with low-dose oHSV or poly I:C mitigated ependyma toxicity. This approach enabled safe delivery of multiple treatment doses of clinically relevant oHSV G207 and prolonged survival in disseminated brain tumor models.
CONCLUSIONS: Toxicity from intraventricular oHSV can be mitigated resulting in therapeutic benefit. These data support clinical translation of intraventricular G207.
PMID:36239623 DOI:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-22-1382