# Bacteriophage-based tumour delivery

Source: https://onco.cc/technologies/phage-delivery/  
OnCo record `phage-delivery` (Technology). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Bacteriophage delivery uses viruses that infect bacteria, not human cells, as engineered shells whose coat proteins display tumour-homing peptides or antigens and carry drugs or vaccines. They are cheap and cannot replicate in people, but the work is preclinical: no oncology phage trial had reported efficacy by 2026, and the body clears them quickly.

## Summary

Phage particles are cheap, cannot replicate in human cells, and their coat proteins can be engineered to display tumour-homing peptides or antigens; phage display already underpins several approved antibodies. As a delivery vehicle in oncology the work is preclinical, with interest in phage-displayed neoantigen vaccines and in the tumour microbiome, where intratumoural bacteria could be targeted by phage. No oncology phage-therapy trial had reported efficacy by 2026.

## Fields

- Kind: Technology
- Status: preclinical
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Tags: frontier; radical
- Principle: Engineered phage capsids display homing peptides or antigens and carry payloads; they are cleared by the reticuloendothelial system rather than infecting human cells.
- Strengths: No human tropism, so no productive infection; Cheap manufacturing; Highly modular surface display
- Limitations: Rapid clearance and anti-phage antibodies; No clinical efficacy data in oncology; Limited payload capacity

## Sources

- ClinicalTrials.gov: bacteriophage cancer: https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?term=bacteriophage%20cancer

## Connected records

- fronts: [Drug Discovery Platforms](https://onco.cc/fronts/drug-discovery/), [Immunotherapy](https://onco.cc/fronts/immunotherapy/)
- technologies: [Off-the-shelf cancer vaccines](https://onco.cc/technologies/shared-antigen-vaccine/), [Oncolytic viruses](https://onco.cc/technologies/oncolytic-virus/)
- roadmaps: [Radical oncology: what could change the war by 2035](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/frontier-2035/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/phage-delivery.json