Analysis of Immunological Treatment Effects of Virotherapy in Tumor Tissue.

In addition of being directly tumoricidal, oncolytic viruses have emerged as potent partners for established and investigational immunotherapies due to their immune-stimulatory effects. The shifting focus on virus-mediated immune modulation calls for a comprehensive analysis of the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the factors orchestrating the antiviral and antitumor immune response. The oncolytic VSV-GP studied in our lab is a safe and potent antitumor agent with a fast replication cycle and killing of a broad range of different cancer types. It induces a robust local inflammatory conversion of the TME and drives a strong adaptive immune response toward the tumor. Here we present our multidisciplinary approach to study VSV-GP treatment effects in tumors by assessing both immune cells (tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and tumor-associated macrophages) and immune-regulatory factors (cytokines) as well as characterizing immune signatures using an immune-targeted NanoString gene expression system.