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zitrone999 t1_j5iss1s wrote

Reply to comment by sometimes_bread in Would it be possible to modify a virus to target cancer cells? by KetogenicKraig

I don't think the other answers are wrong, but they describe a very different mechanism.

The oncolytic viruses you describe are targeting cancer cells and kill them.

The other answered describe gene therapy using viruses. The virus there does not kill them, but are used as a vector for a DNA vaccine that tells the immune system to target specific cancer cells. The cancer cells themselves are not infected.

The oncolytic viruses answer is probably more what OP meant.

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sometimes_bread t1_j5iui1t wrote

You are right! There are several methods by which viruses can be used to target cancer (target specific or not), so I have changed the start of my reply to be more accurate and polite :) cheers

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zitrone999 t1_j5ixm97 wrote

Your reply is very interesting, I never heard of oncolytic viruses before (shame on me). It seems to be quite promising, especially for affordable treatments

I worked on gene therapy to elicit an immune response against specific cancer cells. This is done on an individual bases, thus very expensive (and often not very effective), and probably will not be available for many people for a long time.

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