Oncolytic adenoviruses targeted to Human Papilloma Virus-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinomas

In recent years, the incidence of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) has markedly increased. Our aim was to design a novel therapeutic agent through the use of conditionally replicative adenoviruses (CRAds) that are targeted to the HPV E6 and E7 oncoproteins. Each adenovirus included small deletion(s) in the E1a region of the genome (Δ24 or CB016) intended to allow for selective replication in...