Experimental Herpes Virus-Based Therapy Shows Promise in Glioblastoma Clinical Trial
核心洞察
Candel Therapeutics announced interim data from a phase 1b clinical trial of CAN-3110, an engineered herpes virus therapy for recurrent glioblastoma (搜索), with results published in Science Translational Medicine.
The therapy uses a modified herpes virus to selectively target and kill brain tumor cells (搜索) while triggering an inflammatory response that activates the patient's immune system against the cancer.
Patient Kyle Donahue, diagnosed with glioblastoma (搜索) in 2021 and given months to live, has become a five-year survivor after participating in the clinical trial at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Candel Therapeutics announced interim data from an ongoing phase 1b clinical trial of CAN-3110 (linoserpaturev (搜索)), an experimental oncolytic virus therapy for recurrent glioblastoma (搜索), with results published in Science Translational Medicine in October 2025. The therapy represents a novel approach using an engineered herpes virus to target brain tumors while activating the patient's immune system.
Engineered Virus Targets Brain Tumors
CAN-3110 is based on the herpes virus that causes common cold sores, but has been engineered in the laboratory to specifically target tumor cells (搜索) in the brain. According to Dr. E. Antonio Chiocca, Chair of Brigham and Women's Hospital's Department of Neurosurgery and lead researcher on the clinical trial, the virus works by killing tumor cells and setting up an inflammatory reaction that awakens the patient's immune system.
"The problem with these tumors is they evade the immune system, so it sets up an inflammatory reaction, and that tends to wake up our own immune cells (搜索) to come in and try to get rid of the tumor," Chiocca explained. "By doing this inflammatory reaction, by getting rid of the tumor, it's almost like a vaccine sets up a durable, long-term response."
Mechanism of Action
Chiocca described the therapy's mechanism using an analogy: "Think of your brain as your home. Think of these tumors as a thief that comes into your room and disables the alarm. Therefore, the police do not know that the thief is in the brain, as in your police are actually your immune cells (搜索)." The virus acts like an alarm system, alerting immune cells to the presence of tumor cells (搜索) that would otherwise go undetected.
When the virus infects tumor cells (搜索), it triggers T cells (搜索) and other immune cells (搜索) to recognize and attack both the virus-infected tumor cells and other cancer cells throughout the brain. This creates a systemic immune response against the glioblastoma (搜索).
Treatment Protocol and Patient Experience
The clinical trial involves a multi-day treatment protocol. Patients undergo MRI imaging on the first day, followed by a seven-hour chemotherapy infusion on the second day. After a recovery day, patients receive surgical administration of CAN-3110 directly into the brain tumor on the fourth day.
Kyle Donahue, who was diagnosed with glioblastoma (搜索) in 2021 and given months to live, enrolled in the clinical trial after standard radiation and chemotherapy treatments failed to prevent tumor recurrence. She described the CAN-3110 therapy as acting "like a Pac-Man that goes in and eats all the cancer cells, and what it's trying to do is train your immune system to recognize them."
Clinical Outcomes
Donahue has become a five-year survivor of glioblastoma (搜索), a disease with typically poor prognosis. She attributes her survival to the experimental therapy, stating, "the Candel medication, CAN-3110, it saved my life. It really did, because I think it goes in first... and I'm happy for every single extra day that I've gotten from this, because obviously it did train my immune system."
The clinical trial is being conducted at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Massachusetts, with Candel Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, developing the therapy. The interim data represents an important milestone in the development of oncolytic virus therapies for one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer (搜索).