Len Seymour
Our research develops anti-cancer viruses that are able to infect and kill cancer cells, while leaving normal cells unharmed. This approach exploits the natural life cycle of the virus, which lyses infected cells in order to release progeny virus particles, allowing the infection to spread from cell to cell through the tumour. The life cycle of some viruses, such as adenoviruses, is intimately dependent on the activities of the cells they infect, and this provides a range of opportunities to engineer viruses that are only active when they encounter the specific environment of a tumour cell.
Adenoviruses can be designed that are dependent on deregulated cell cycle, dysfunctional apoptosis pathways, enhanced glycolytic metabolism and many others. In this way the virus amplifies itself within the tumour, reaching high local concentrations and potentially infecting all tumour cells. In addition this 'oncolytic' type of cell killing is very inflammatory, providing the possibility to create an anti-cancer immune response. These agents are often known as ‘oncolytic vaccines’.
Finally our viruses can be 'armed' to encode additional therapeutic agents, to be expressed only within the tumour; this provides a simple and versatile approach to targeted cancer therapy using a range of potent biological agents.
Lead Principal Investigator
Research Theme
Selected Publications
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Actin-resistant DNAse I Expression From Oncolytic Adenovirus Enadenotucirev Enhances Its Intratumoral Spread and Reduces Tumor Growth.
Journal article
Tedcastle A. et al, (2016), Mol Ther, 24, 796 - 804
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Under Pressure: Elevated Blood Pressure Enhances Targeting of Tumors by Oncolytic Viruses.
Journal article
Seymour LW. and Fisher KD., (2016), Mol Ther, 24, 204 - 205
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In vivo characterization of the physicochemical properties of polymer-linked TLR agonists that enhance vaccine immunogenicity.
Journal article
Lynn GM. et al, (2015), Nat Biotechnol, 33, 1201 - 1210
Latest News
Department of Oncology to collaborate with Crescendo Biologics
20 September 2019
The Department of Oncology has signed up to collaborate with Crescendo Biologics Ltd (Crescendo), the drug developer of novel, targeted T cell enhancing therapeutics.
Clinical researchers at Oxford University announce new collaboration with Janssen to detect blood cancers sooner
8 August 2019
The new 7-year research collaboration with Janssen Research & Development, LLC (Janssen) will study patients at higher risk of developing certain types of blood cancers that arise from the immune system, such as chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and multiple myeloma, to identify markers that could be used to predict who will go on to develop symptomatic disease.
Study suggests immune system plays key role in survival after pancreatic cancer surgery
12 February 2019
Researchers in Oxford have found that an individual’s immune system – and in particular the presence of T-cells amongst tumour cells - may play an important role in survival after surgery to remove pancreatic cancer.