GoKawiilImmunotherapies and viral proteins that can kill cells are powerful tools to fight cancer, but targeting tumours without harming other cells is difficult. Writing in Nature, Koeber et al.1 present a strategy to selectively eradicate a deadly and incurable type of brain tumour called a glioblastoma. The authors used a virus as a vehicle to carry an engineered DNA sequence into cells. One component encoded by this sequence is a protein that is needed for a drug to kill the tumour cell. The cargo delivered by the viral vector also contains a sequence that encodes an immune-signalling factor called a cytokine, which triggers the immune system to attack cancer cells. Koeber and colleagues report that this system eliminated brain tumours in mice.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00812-5
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Competing Interests The authors declare no competing interests.
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