USE OF A REPLICATION-RESTRICTED HERPES-VIRUS TO TREAT EXPERIMENTAL HUMAN-MALIGNANT MESOTHELIOMA

Modified, nonneurovirulent herpes simplex viruses (HSVs) have shown pr omise in the treatment of brain tumors, However, HSV-1 can infect and lyse a wide range of cell types, In this report, five show that HSV-17 16, a mutant lacking both copies of the gene coding ICP-34.5, can effe ctively treat a localized i.p. malignancy, Human malignant mesotheliom a cells supported the growth of HSV-1716 and were efficiently lysed in vitro. i.p. injection of HSV-1716 into animals with established tumor nodules reduced tumor burden and significantly prolonged survival in an animal model of non-central nervous system-localized human malignan cy without dissemination or persistence after i.p. injection into SCID mice bearing human tumors, These findings suggest that this virus may be efficacious and safe for use in localized human malignancies of no nneuronal origin such as malignant mesothelioma.