Resumen
Pancreatic cancer is a deadly disease with no effective therapy. Oncolytic viruses such as myxoma (MYXV) have revealed great potential to treat malignancies, due to dual anti-cancer effects?oncolytic and immune-stimulating effects. We aimed to verify whether adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) pre-loaded ex vivo with transgene-armed myxoma construct would be useful for transferring the virus to murine pancreatic lesions and whether this would reduce tumor burden. We confirmed that the carrier cells remained viable after infection, in contrast to pancreatic cancer cells, which were destroyed. Intraperitoneal (IP) administration of the shielded virus (ADSCs/MYXV) revealed localization in the pancreas, decreased tumor burden and an adaptive anti-tumor immune response. We conclude that ADSCs pre-loaded with recombinant MYXV and administered IP allowed for the ferrying of the virus to pancreatic cancer lesions, followed by tumor regression and extended survival in the treated mice. This therapeutic approach has excellent potential for treating pancreatic cancer.