Anti-cancer efficacy of combined vaccine-strain measles and mumps viruses against colorectal cancer: an experimental study.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to evaluate the oncolytic efficacy of a combination of vaccine-strain measles virus (MeV) and mumps virus (MuV) against colorectal cancer (CRC) cells in vitro and in a nude mouse xenograft model.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

HT-29 cells were cultured in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) and infected with MeV, MuV, or a combination of MeV and MuV (MM; MeV: MuV = 1:1, v/v). Cell viability, synergistic effects, and apoptosis were assessed using MTT and flow cytometry assays, respectively, in vitro. A nude mouse xenograft model was established to evaluate the in vivo oncolytic efficacy of the MM against CRC xenograft tumors.

RESULTS

The MM demonstrated synergistic effects at 48, 72, and 96 h (CI = 0.473, 0.692, and 0.633, respectively). The MM-treated group showed significantly lower cell viability (p < 0.05) and a markedly higher apoptotic rate (p < 0.01) compared with single-virus-infected groups in vitro. In the xenograft model, the MM-treated group exhibited significantly slower tumor growth (p ≤ 0.001), significantly prolonged survival (p < 0.05), reduced mortality, and increased proportions of innate immune cell populations in the spleen compared with single-virus-treated groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The MM demonstrated synergistic and superior oncolytic efficacy against HT-29 colorectal cancer cells compared with single-virus therapies in both in vitro and in vivo xenograft models.