Combination of novel oncolytic herpesvirus with paclitaxel as an efficient strategy for breast cancer therapy

Abstract Background New strategies are needed to improve the treatment of patients with breast cancer (BC). Oncolytic virotherapy is a promising new tool for cancer treatment but still has a limited overall durable antitumor response. A novel replicable recombinant oncolytic herpes simplex virus type 1 called VG161 has been developed and has demonstrated antitumor effects in several cancers. Here, we explored the efficacy and the antitumor immune response of VG161 cotreatment with paclitaxel (PTX) which as a novel oncolytic viral immunotherapy for BC. Methods The antitumor effect of VG161 and PTX was confirmed in a BC xenograft mouse model. The immunostimulatory pathways were tested by RNA‐seq and the remodeling of tumor microenvironment was detected by Flow cytometry analysis or Immunohistochemistry. Pulmonary lesions were analyzed by the EMT6‐Luc BC model. Results In this report, we demonstrate that VG161 can significantly represses BC growth and elicit a robust antitumor immune response in a mouse model. The effect is amplified when combined with PTX treatment. The antitumor effect is associated with the infiltration of lymphoid cells, including CD4 + T cells, CD8 + T cells, and NK cells (expressing TNF and IFN‐γ), and myeloid cells, including macrophages, myeloid‐derived suppressor cells, and dendritic cell cells. Additionally, VG161 cotreatment with PTX showed a significant reduction in BC lung metastasis, which may result from the enhanced CD4 + and CD8 + T cell‐mediated responses. Conclusions The combination of PTX and VG161 is effective for repressing BC growth by inducing proinflammatory changes in the tumor microenvironment and reducing BC pulmonary metastasis. These data will provide a new strategy and valuable insight for oncolytic virus therapy applications in primary solid or metastatic BC tumors.