Interleukin-2 and Oncolytic Virotherapy: A New Perspective in Cancer Therapy

By triggering immune responses in malignancies that have generally been linked to poor outcomes, immunotherapy has recently shown effectiveness. On the other hand, tumors provide an environment for cells that influence the body's immunity against cancer. Malignant cells also express large amounts of soluble or membrane-bound ligands and immunosuppressive receptors. In this regard, the combination of oncolytic viruses with pro-inflammatory or inflammatory cytokines, including IL-2, can be a potential therapy for some malignancies. Indeed, oncolytic viruses cause the death of cancerous cells and destroy the tumor microenvironment. They result in the local release of threat signals and antigens associated with tumors. As a result, it causes lymphocyte activity and the accumulation of antigen-presenting cells which causes them to accumulate in the tumor environment and release cytokines and chemokines. In this study, we reviewed the functions of IL-2 as a crucial type of inflammatory cytokine in triggering immune responses, as well as the effect of its release and increased expression following combination therapy with oncolytic viruses in the process of malignant progression, as an essential therapeutic approach that should be taken into consideration going forward.