What is T-VEC used for?

T-VEC is the first genetically modified herpes simplex virus-1-based oncolytic immunotherapy approved by FDA and EMA for the treatment of unresectable, cutaneous, subcutaneous and nodal lesions in patients with melanoma recurrent after initial surgery [72,73].

Is T-VEC a vaccine?

Talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) is a type of immunotherapy. It is also called Imlygic. It’s a treatment for melanoma skin cancer that has spread to other areas of the skin, soft tissue or the lymph nodes, and can’t be removed with surgery.

Is T-VEC an oncolytic virus?

T-VEC is an intralesional oncolytic virus therapy based on a modified herpes simplex virus type-1. T-VEC selectively targets tumor cells, causing regression in injected lesions and inducing immunologic responses that mediate regression at uninjected/distant sites.

How long does it take for T-VEC to work?

Advantages of T-VEC On average, patients who take T-VEC could see a response in less than five months, sometimes much sooner. There are mild to moderate side effects that typically diminish within a few days. Treatment occurs every 2-3 weeks and is done during a short office visit, with no hospital admission.

How effective is T-VEC?

T-VEC is an FDA approved, first-in-class oncolytic virus based on a modified herpes simplex virus type 1 designed to selectively replicate in and lyse tumor cells while promoting regional and systemic antitumor immunity [15]. An overall response rate of 26% was observed, being 10% of those complete remissions.

Is T-VEC FDA approved?

On October 27, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first oncolytic virus therapy, talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC, or Imlygic®). The agency approved T-VEC for the treatment of some patients with metastatic melanoma that cannot be surgically removed.

How do oncolytic viruses work?

An oncolytic virus is a virus that preferentially infects and kills cancer cells. As the infected cancer cells are destroyed by oncolysis, they release new infectious virus particles or virions to help destroy the remaining tumour.

What advantages does T-VEC have over chemotherapy and radiation as a treatment for certain melanomas?

T-VEC is a herpes virus designed in a laboratory to make an immune-stimulating hormone. This virus can infect and destroy melanoma cells. T-VEC also helps stimulate the immune system to destroy other melanoma tumors. T-VEC is injected directly into 1 or more melanoma tumors, so it is also called intralesional therapy.

How does viral therapy work?

Oncolytic viruses are a form of immunotherapy that uses viruses to infect and destroy cancer cells. Viruses are particles that infect or enter our cells and then use the cell’s genetic machinery to make copies of themselves and subsequently spread to surrounding uninfected cells.

Is Imlygic a gene therapy?

Imlygic is a modified genetic therapy inserted directly into tumors with a viral vector, where the gene replicates and produces a protein that stimulates an immune response to kill cancer cells.

How do oncolytic viruses destroy tumors?

How many oncolytic viruses are approved?

To date, only one oncolytic virus—a genetically modified form of a herpesvirus for treating melanoma—has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), though a number of viruses are being evaluated as potential treatments for cancer in clinical trials.

What are the results of the T-Vec trial?

Substantially more patients in the trial treated with T-VEC had a decrease in the size of their skin and lymph node lesions that lasted at least 6 months compared with patients treated with granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Read more about the trial results on which the FDA based its approval.

How does T-Vec work in melanoma patients?

T-VEC demonstrated significant improvement in durable response rate, objective response rate, and progression-free survival in a randomized phase III clinical trial for patients with advanced melanoma. This review will discuss the optimal selection of patients for such treatment and describe how therapy is optimally delivered.

When to take T-Vec in combination with ipilimumab?

Methods: In this open-label, multicenter, phase Ib trial of T-VEC in combination with ipilimumab, T-VEC was administered intratumorally in week 1 (10(6) plaque-forming units/mL), then in week 4 and every 2 weeks thereafter (10(8) plaque-forming units/mL).

When did the FDA approve talimogene laherparepvec?

FDA Approves Talimogene Laherparepvec to Treat Metastatic Melanoma. On October 27, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first oncolytic virus therapy, talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC, or Imlygic®).The agency approved T-VEC for the treatment of some patients with metastatic melanoma that cannot be surgically removed. The…