Chinese scientists supercharge virus to kill cancer cells

Chinese scientists have found a compound that appears to enhance the ability of a virus to target and kill liver cancer cells while sparing healthy cells. The discovery offers new hope for treating the world's second-most common form of cancer, according to a study published on Wednesday.

A therapy using viruses that selectively kill cancer cells - called oncolytic viruses - is rapidly progressing through clinical evaluation, but the therapeutic efficacy in humans has been less than expected in preclinical studies, the study said. It was published in the US journal Science Translational Medicine.

Oncolytic virotherapy involving the M1 virus, a mosquito-borne pathogen that mainly causes mild illnesses in horses, is believed to have potential for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of liver cancer.