Leveraging Viruses for the Treatment of Viral Diseases and Cancer: Improving Host Fitness by Combinations of Virus and Host Genes gives a comprehensive overview on the impact of using naturally or intentionally attenuated viruses - which are apathogenic to people - to control viral diseases and cancer. It examines the potential of exploiting, developing, and using apathogenic viruses as therapeutic tools. Sections cover the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for a post-Infection Plan B to combat SARS-CoV-2 infections as gaps in testing and vaccination create the perfect conditions for a new variant of concern to emerge.
More generally, the book also provides specific examples of the use of apathogenic viruses to treat other infectious diseases. It discusses the process of manufacturing viral therapies and how infectious disease treatments can be repurposed to improve other therapies like for cancer. With contribution from an international group of contributors, Leveraging Viruses for the Treatment of Viral Diseases and Cancer is useful references for those engages in study and development of infectious diseases and ways to combat them.
1. Rethinking viruses: Beyond the pathogen paradigm in virome-host interactions
2. Three out of four new diseases are zoonotic: Neglected pandemic threats in the United States
3. Exploiting viral interference for therapy
4. Fighting fire with fire: Using non-pathogenic rhinoviruses and attenuated oral polioviruses to combat unrelated viral infections
5. Beneficial non-specific effects of live vaccines against unrelated infections
6. A post-infection Plan B to complement vaccination against RNA viruses
7. Impact of GB Virus C Viraemia on the clinical outcome in HIV-1-Infected patients
8. Conventional Acyclovir complemented with immunostimulatory IBDV may reduce the crusting time of shingles to one-third
9. Combination of IBDV with low doses of Nivolumab Plus Ipilimumab could provide functional cure in chronic hepatitis b virus infections
10. Breakthrough infection can be achieved in the presence of neutralizing antibodies by multiple administrations of viruses
11. Reverse genetics improves safety of IBDV (R903/78) therapeutic vaccine candidate
12. Infectious Bursal Disease Virus (IBDV) is simple to manufacture and is affordable
13. Counteracting immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment by immunostimulatory viruses and ICIs
Dr. Tibor Bakacs has 40 years of experience in scientific research. His current interests are (i) viral superinfection treatment (SIT) of hepatitis B and C virus infected patients with unmet needs; (ii) oncolytic Newcastle Disease virus (NDV) therapy of advanced cancer; (iii) therapeutic application of autoimmune T-cells, which are induced by an off-label low-dose immune checkpoint blockade in advanced cancer. Formerly, he was the Head of Immunology at the Hungarian National Institute of Oncology. He spent longer periods abroad, at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, Christie Hospital in Manchester, UK and the National Cancer Institute (NCI/NIH) in the USA. Currently, he is the Chief Scientific Officer of Superinfection, Pret Therapeutics Ltd, and Lodoco Clinical Ltd. He is also a consultant at the Department of Probability, Alfred Renyi Institute of Mathematics. Dr. Bakacs authored 75 scientific papers and has two patents.
