First human injected with 'revolutionary' cancer-killing virus

The first human patient has been injected with a 'revolutionary' cancer-killing virus known as Vaxinia, said scientists and added that it had been previously been used on animals successfully. 

The scientists hope the virus will amplify the body's immune system response to better fight against cancer cells, reports BGR.

Vaxinia has been designed to kill cancer cells, producing promising results in previous animal trials.

In this recent trial, the researchers ensured that the virus was not only cancer-killing but also had the ability to make it more recognizable to the body's immune system. The vaccine is being tested in Phase 1 with a sample size of 100 patients with a metastatic or advanced solid tumour, who have already tried at least two other treatments.

The drug will be administered in two groups, with the first receiving Vaxinia and the other receiving the cancer-killing virus plus an immunotherapy drug.

Phase 1 is generally about being safe and registering the correct amount of dose, thus, they don't produce the desired results immediately.

Scientists have already seen tremendous success when testing the virus on animals, which was able to shrink the tumour in the experiments. While a successful animal trial is not an indicator of success in human trials, scientists are still hopeful this might open up new doors to help the body fight cancer. The trial is expected to be completed by 2025.