Oncolytic adenoviruses and immunopeptidomics: a convenient marriage

Oncolytic viruses (OVs) are biological therapeutic agents that selectively destroy cancer cells while sparing normal healthy cells. Besides direct oncolysis, OV infection induces a proinflammatory shift in the tumor microenvironment and the release of tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) that might induce an anti-tumor immunity. Due to their immunostimulatory effect, OVs have been explored for cancer vaccination against specific TAAs. However, this approach usually requires genetic modification of the virus and the production of a new viral vector for each target, which is difficult to implement for low prevalent antigens. In a recent study, Chiaro et al. presented an elegant proof of concept on how to implement the PeptiCRAd vaccination platform to overcome this limitation for the treatment of mesothelioma. Authors showed the feasibility of identifying immunogenic TAAs in human mesothelioma and using them to coat oncolytic adenovirus particles. The result was a customized virus-based cancer vaccine that circumvents time and resource-consuming steps incurred from genetically engineering viruses. Although some questions remain to be addressed, this interesting approach suggests novel strategies for personalized cancer medicine using oncolytic virotherapy.