A Pre-clinical Evaluation of Myxoma Virus and Vesicular Stomatitis Virus in Neuroblastoma

Abstract

Despite the use of myeloablative therapy, the prognosis of patients with high-risk neuroblastoma remains poor. More targeted therapies are required reduce the toxicity and increase the cure rate for these young patients. Oncolytic viruses have been shown to be selective and effective at targeting a wide variety of malignant cells by exploiting aberrant signaling pathways and many viruses have been translated into the clinical setting with positive results. In this study, the oncolytic viruses myxoma and vesicular stomatitis virus, previously shown to be effective against other neural crest derived tumors, were examined. Neuroblatoma cell lines and patient-derived neuroblastoma TICs were used in our in vitro and in vivo models to evaluate the selectivity and efficacy OV therapy. This pre-clinical study provides evidence that myxoma and VSV are able to selectively target and kill neuroblatoma cells, leading to reduced tumor growth in vivo. These findings support further investigation into the use of OVs as an adjunct to the current standard for patients with high-risk neuroblasomta.