Program Overview: The Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project in Cancer Research. Canadian Oncolytic Virus Consortium (Dr. John Bell)

Cancer is the leading disease-associated cause of death in Canada, and new therapies are needed, with greater potency and fewer side effects than conventional treatments. Oncolytic viruses (OV) are a novel therapeutic platform that answers this call; they infect and destroy cancer cells in a highly selective manner, they have an excellent safety profile, and show exciting early signs of clinical benefit. The Canadian Oncolytic Virus Consortium (COVCo) is a group of scientists and clinicians who have united with the goal of developing and optimizing this novel cancer therapy platform for use in patients. Through our first two rounds of funding we have identified new viruses with anti-cancer activity, and have learned that OVs have multiple strategies for attacking cancer, yet encounter several barriers in doing so. In this current proposal we put forward multiple new strategies to maximize the various modes of tumour attack and circumvent the many barriers to their use; these strategies in combination, stand to make a dramatic impact on the efficacy of this therapeutic strategy and revolutionary improvements in the lives of cancer patients treated with these therapeutics.