A goal of cancer research is to develop therapies that can selectively kill tumour cells without adversely affecting normal cells — this is crucial for both the short-term comfort and long-term survival of patients. One such agent is a genetically engineered adenovirus from ONYX Pharmaceuticals, called ONYX-015, which is thought to selectively replicate in (and kill) tumour cells deficient for the p53 tumour-suppressor pathway, having little toxicity to normal cells. Because p53 is mutated in over half of all human cancers, and is probably functionally deficient in many others owing to mutations in associated genes, ONYX-015 could prove useful in treating a range of tumours.
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