REVIEW article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Virology
This article is part of the Research TopicOncolytic Viruses in Cancer Treatment: Exploring Molecular MechanismsView all 7 articles
Oncolytic Adenoviruses in Bladder and Kidney Cancers: Emerging Strategies and Next Frontiers
Provisionally accepted
- Emory University, Atlanta, United States
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Engineering oncolytic adenoviruses (OAds) to treat renal and bladder cancers has advanced rapidly. Leveraging insights into adenovirus biology, the molecular pathology of cancer, and recent progress in tumor immunology, multiple strategies have been developed to enhance the antitumor specificity and overall efficacy of OAds as anticancer therapeutics. Combination with other cancer treatment modalities has shown synergistic effects, further augmenting their therapeutic potential. In this review, we discuss the most recent advances in oncolytic adenovirus designs that tailor this vector platform for the treatment of renal and bladder cancers. We further summarize findings from preclinical animal studies demonstrating tumor suppression by OAds, as well as results from clinical trials evaluating their safety and efficacy in cancer patients. Collectively, the accumulated data highlights the significant potential of engineered oncolytic adenoviruses as a novel therapeutic modality for cancer patients that have limited treatment options.
Keywords: oncolytic adenovirus, combination therapy, Immunomodulation, Kidney cancer, Bladder cancer, Clinical Trial
Received: 20 Oct 2025; Accepted: 18 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Shayakhmetov and Yao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Dmitry M. Shayakhmetov, dmitryshay@emory.edu
Jia Yao, jia.yao@emory.edu
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.