Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Mar 25.
Published in final edited form as: Pediatr Res. 2012 Feb 15;71(4 0 2):500–510. doi: 10.1038/pr.2011.58

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Oncolytic viral therapy +/- gene therapy may be used to target cancer stem cells (CSCs). Virus can be delivered systemically or via direction injection into the tumor bed. Viral mutations (e.g. deletion of virulence genes) or non-human host range prevents a productive infection in normal cells but permits infection in CSC. CSC-specific surface antigens may be targeted for viral entry. As viral replication ensues, foreign gene products are produced such as cytokines (e.g. interleukin-12), enzymes (e.g. chondroitinase), or other proteins (e.g. angiostatin). After host-cell lysis and release of foreign products, cytokines can result in an immune response (T cells (T), NK cells (NK), and macrophages (MΦ)) against CSC antigens in uninfected cells. Enzymes or inhibitory proteins can disrupt the CSC microenvironment. New viral particles can infect adjacent tumor cells.