Overview
This complementary
and alternative medicine (CAM) information summary provides an overview of
the use of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) as a treatment for cancer. The
summary includes a brief history of NDV research, a review of laboratory and
animal studies, the results of clinical trials, and possible side
effects of NDV-based therapy. Several different strains of NDV will be
discussed in the summary, including the Hungarian strain MTH (More Than
Hope)-68.
Information presented in some sections of the summary can
also be found in tables located at the end of those sections.
This summary contains the following key information:
- NDV is usually thought to be an avian (i.e., bird) virus, but it also
infects humans. Although NDV causes a potentially fatal, noncancerous disease
(Newcastle disease) in birds, it causes only minor illness in humans.
- NDV appears to replicate (i.e.,
reproduce) substantially better in human cancer cells than it does in most
normal human cells.
- Individual strains of NDV are classified as lytic or nonlytic. Viruses of both strain types can
kill cancer cells, but lytic strains have the potential to do this more
quickly because they damage the plasma membrane of infected cells. Nonlytic strains appear to
kill by interfering with cell metabolism.
- Lytic strains of NDV have been studied in humans for their ability to kill
cancer cells directly, but viruses of both strain types have been used to make
vaccines in an attempt to stimulate the
immune system to fight cancer.
- NDV-based anticancer therapy has been reported to be of benefit in more
than a dozen clinical studies,
but the results of these studies must be considered inconclusive because the
study designs were weak and the study reports were generally incomplete.
Many of the medical and scientific terms used in the summary are hypertext linked (at first use in each section) to the Cancer.gov Dictionary, which is oriented toward nonexperts. When a linked term is clicked, a definition will appear in a separate window. All linked terms and their corresponding definitions will appear in a glossary in the printable version of the summary. Reference citations in some PDQ CAM information summaries may include links to external Web sites that are operated by individuals or organizations for the purpose of marketing or advocating the use of specific treatments or products. These reference citations are included for informational purposes only. Their inclusion should not be viewed as an endorsement of the content of the Web sites, or of any treatment or product, by the PDQ Cancer CAM Editorial Board or the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
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