Blood-Vessel Blocker Aids Cancer-Killing Virus, Ohio State University Study

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Cancer-killing viruses are a promising therapy for incurable brain tumors, but their effectiveness has been limited in part because immune cells rapidly move in and eliminate them. That immune response might be slowed, and the virus given more time to kill cancer cells, by blocking the growth of blood vessels in the tumor, new research here suggests. The animal study indicates that pretreatment with an antiangiogenic agent – a drug that blocks blood-vessel growth – might improve the effectiveness of cancer-killing viruses.