A 'huge milestone': approval of cancer-hunting virus signals new treatment era

Imlygic programs viruses to attack only cancer cells and gives patients more humane options - potentially 'a complete change in the game' in treatment

A new cancer treatment strategy is on the horizon that experts say could be a game-changer and spare patients the extreme side effects of existing options such as chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy and other current cancer treatments are brutal, scorched-earth affairs that work because cancer cells are slightly - but not much - more susceptible to the havoc they wreak than the rest of the body. Their side effects are legion, and in many cases horrifying - from hair loss and internal bleeding to chronic nausea and even death.