SUMMARY
Richard G. Vile, Ph.D., and his research team develop experimental cancer therapies. These therapies all aim to stimulate antitumor immune responses.
Dr. Vile's research combines in vivo and in vitro assays but focuses primarily on murine immune-competent models and syngeneic tumors. Although his team has a major interest in melanoma, they also have models of prostate cancer, glioma and brain metastases. These research approaches can be applied across tumor sites.
Focus areas
- Oncolytic viruses. Oncolytic viruses have been a key area of Dr. Vile's research for several years. His team previously demonstrated the critical role of the immune system in successful therapy with oncolytic viruses.
- Engineering oncolytic viruses to deliver tumor antigens. In addition to developing oncolytic viruses that express cytokines and tumor-associated antigens, Dr. Vile and his team have developed a new approach in which vesicular stomatitis virus can be engineered to express a library of tumor antigens, resulting in exceptional treatment options.
- Improving adoptive cell therapy with oncolytic viruses. Adoptive cell therapy is one of the few treatments shown to be effective for patients with melanoma. In preclinical models, Dr. Vile's team demonstrated that combining adoptive cell therapy with oncolytic viruses can improve its effectiveness.
- Expanding CAR-T cell therapy to more tumor types. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy is an exciting prospect. And there are reports of excellent responses in the few patients with leukemia who have been treated so far. Dr. Vile's research team is exploring this therapy to generate CAR-T cells against more tumor types.
- Combining radiotherapy with immunotherapy. Radiotherapy, though classically an immunosuppressive treatment, is now known to have many potentially helpful effects when combined with immunotherapies. Dr. Vile's team is studying how radiotherapy, including external beam radiation and brachytherapy, can be combined with other immune-based approaches.
Significance to patient care
Dr. Vile's research aims to help people with cancer. His team develops new treatments that can move quickly into clinical trials, where they are tested in patients. The team works closely with researchers at Mayo Clinic, across the United States and around the world. Dr. Vile has helped lead clinical trials of several cancer-fighting viruses.
At Mayo, researchers are testing a virus designed by Dr. Vile's team in patients with liver cancer as part of an ongoing clinical trial. The virus is engineered to produce interferon, which is a protein that helps the body's immune system fight disease. Dr. Vile's laboratory also works with researchers in the United Kingdom and other countries to test these viruses in patients with different types of cancer.
Professional highlights
- Director, Optical Microscopy and Cell Analysis Core, Mayo Clinic, 2026-present.
- The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation Professor, Mayo Clinic, 2008-present.