SCMP: China has unveiled the results of the world’s first advanced clinical trials of a cancer therapy based on a modified virus that can trigger a “tumour meltdown” in terminal-stage patients – offering renewed hope where conventional treatments have failed.

According to a paper by researchers from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, the modified virus, known as VG161, was able to infiltrate and dismantle drug-resistant liver tumours in the patients while supercharging their immune defences.

The study not only challenges the US and Japan’s dominance in oncolytic virus research, it also pivots the global fight against cancer towards common, deadly malignancies like liver and gastric cancers, according to the paper, published by the journal Nature on March 20.

《南華早報》：中國公佈了全球首批基於改良病毒的癌症療法高級臨床試驗結果，這種病毒可引發晚期癌症患者的“腫瘤消退”，為常規治療無效的患者帶來了新的希望。

根據浙江大學附屬第一醫院研究人員的論文，這種名為 VG161 的改良病毒能夠滲透到患者體內並拆除抗藥性肝腫瘤，同時增強患者的免疫防禦能力。

據3月20日發表在《自然》雜誌上的論文稱，這項研究不僅挑戰了美國和日本在溶瘤病毒研究領域的主導地位，還將全球抗擊癌症的重點轉向肝癌和胃癌等常見的致命惡性腫瘤.