Cancer Cure News 2017: Modified Form of Herpes Virus Could Treat Melanoma

By Amee Florence Payno, Christian Post Contributor Thursday, June 15, 2017

Skin cancer is considered to be among the most common type of cancers that exist in the world. Now, some experts are of the opinion that a new drug — which is a modified form of the herpes virus — could be an effective treatment for skin cancer patients.

According to a report by Express, the herpes virus in itself is a highly infectious disease that can cause cold sores and affect people for the rest of their life. However, a genetically modified version of the virus could actually help in extending the lives of patients suffering from melanoma.

The Clatterbridge Cancer Center NHS Foundation Trust, a hospital in Merseyside in the United Kingdom, is one of the top recruiters for an international clinical trial that will use this modified version of herpes to research its viability as a form of treatment that will combat skin cancer.

T-VEC or talimogene laherparepvec is a local immunotherapy treatment and an oncolytic virus therapy. This means that this particular treatment kills melanoma cells found in the skin as well as in the lymph nodes by using a virus to infect these cancer cells.

The therapy is especially designed to multiply the genetically modified virus while inside these melanoma cells in order to kill them. Experts say that it could enhance a patient's immune system's ability to fight against cancer.

The first patient who participated in the trial conducted at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Wirral was a 67-year-old woman from Liverpool named Lynda Jackson. She was diagnosed in 2012 with malignant melanoma when the lump in her arm was biopsied.

Jackson received her first injection in December 2015 and she received the treatment for a year, getting an injection every two weeks. She also got regular CT scans in order to monitor her progress.

"I am really pleased with the results. The lumps have shrunk and shriveled," Jackson said.

For Dr. Joseph Sacco, a consultant in Medical Oncology that served as the local investigator for the trial, it is their hope that "the research will help us identify which patients are most likely to benefit, thus helping us choose which patients to offer T-VEC to, minimizing side effects while maximizing treatment."