Commentary on oncolytic viruses: past, present, and future

Whither oncolytic viruses? From the peak of their popularity in the early 2000s, when the ONYX-015 adenovirus had just entered the clinic, and then again in 2015 when the Food and Drug Administration-approved talimogene laherparepvec (also known as OncoVEX^GM-CSF), which briefly revived interest, oncolytic viruses (OVs) have mostly fallen out of favor despite the many pharmaceutical companies with OVs in development. This commentary enumerates and addresses the core conceptions, perceptions, and misconceptions that characterize the current 'trough of disillusionment' in which the field of anticancer virotherapy finds itself and suggests reasons for optimism.