Science

Hung Trinh: Cancer-Fighting Herpes Virus Shown to Be Effective for Some Advanced Melanoma

Hung Trinh/LinkedIn

Jul 15, 2025, 09:35

Hung Trinh: Cancer-Fighting Herpes Virus Shown to Be Effective for Some Advanced Melanoma

Hung Trinh, CMC/MFG Consultant and Managing Director at Vertex Biopharm Consulting, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“Cancer-fighting herpes virus shown to be an effective treatment for some advanced melanoma.

The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), which affects almost two‑thirds of the world’s population and is generally associated with oral herpes, may cause painful cold sores or fever blisters around the mouth.

Yet, when genetically engineered to fight cancer, the virus may also play an important role in treating advanced melanoma, skin cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, according to phase 1–2 clinical trial results published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and recently presented by Keck Medicine of USC at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.

The study involved 140 patients from the IGNYTE clinical trial, which included Keck Medicine and other sites worldwide. These patients had advanced melanoma that did not respond or stopped responding to immunotherapy, which uses the body’s own immune system to fight cancer.

Patients were treated with a genetically modified HSV-1 in combination with an immunotherapy (nivolumab). By the end of the clinical trial, tumors in one‑third of the participants had shrunk by at least 30%, and tumors in nearly one out of six patients had completely disappeared.

‘These findings are very encouraging because melanoma is the fifth most common cancer for adults, and about half of all advanced melanoma cases cannot be managed with currently available immunotherapy treatments,’ said Gino Kim In, MD, a medical oncologist with Keck Medicine and principal investigator at the Keck Medicine clinical trial site.

Dr. In is also a member of the IGNYTE trial steering committee and one of the lead investigators on the trial.

‘The survival rate of untreatable advanced melanoma is only a few years, so this new therapy offers hope to patients who may have run out of options to fight the cancer,’ added Dr. In.”

Hung Trinh: Cancer-Fighting Herpes Virus Shown to Be Effective for Some Advanced Melanoma