Dynamics of melanoma tumor therapy with vesicular stomatitis virus: Explaining the variability in outcomes using mathematical modeling

Tumor selective, replication competent viruses are being tested for cancer gene therapy. This approach introduces a new therapeutic paradigm due to potential replication of the therapeutic agent and induction of a tumor-specific immune response. However, the experimental outcomes are quite variable, even when studies utilize highly inbred strains of mice and the same cell line and virus. Recognizing that virotherapy is an exercise in population dynamics, we utilize mathematical modeling to understand the variable outcomes observed when B16ova malignant melanoma tumors are treated with vesicular stomatitis virus in syngeneic, fully immunocompetent mice. We show how variability in the initial tumor size and the actual amount of virus delivered to the tumor have critical roles on the outcome of therapy. Virotherapy works best when tumors are small, and a robust innate immune response can lead to superior tumor control. Strategies that reduce tumor burden without suppressing the immune response and methods that maximize the amount of virus delivered to the tumor should optimize tumor control in this model system.