Recombinant viruses are novel therapeutic agents that can be utilized for treatment of\nvarious diseases, including cancers. Recombinant viruses can be engineered to express foreign\ntransgenes and have a broad tropism allowing gene expression in a wide range of host cells. They can\nbe selected or designed for specific therapeutic goals; for example, recombinant viruses could be\nused to stimulate host immune response against tumor-specific antigens and therefore overcome\nthe ability of the tumor to evade the hostâ??s immune surveillance. Alternatively, recombinant viruses\ncould express immunomodulatory genes which stimulate an anti-cancer immune response. Oncolytic\nviruses can replicate specifically in tumor cells and induce toxic effects leading to cell lysis and\napoptosis. However, each of these approaches face certain difficulties that must be resolved to achieve\nmaximum therapeutic efficacy. In this review we discuss actively developing approaches for cancer\ntherapy based on recombinant viruses, problems that need to be overcome, and possible prospects\nfor further development of recombinant virus based therapy
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