Oncolytic Salmonella: Dirty Poultry for Cancer Therapy?

Loeffler et al. report on the anti-tumor activity of an attenuated Salmonella bacterial strain engineered to express the mammalian immunostimulatory gene LIGHT, online this month in PNAS. How about a clinical trial on chickens with tumors? Or will Kentucky Fried Chicken give the Salmonella to their birds and market a new 6-piece anti-cancer meal? "Will that be a white or brown therapy today?". Just kidding. Oncolytic bacterial therapy for cancer is of course a very legitimate and promising area of therapeutic research. Clinical trials and manufacture of biological therapeutics are highly regulated and controlled to ensure human safety. Sorry KFC.