Clinical considerations in the design of protocols for somatic gene therapy.
Despite two decades of investigating the potential for somatic gene therapy in curing human disease, few clinical trials are being proposed. This delay is due in part to limitations of existing methods for gene transfer and to the recognized need to proceed judiciously into this controversial arena. Delay is also caused by a disjunction between the traditional precedents and principles of clinical investigation and the procedures instituted to regulate somatic gene therapy. The premise of this report is twofold: first, that more extensive clinical investigation of gene transfer technologies would be beneficial to patients, medicine, and basic science and second, that clinical investigations could be expedited by appealing to the established experience in clinical investigation without compromising the scientific excellence and discipline essential for this highly public process. This report develops a clinical perspective on potential applications of existing gene transfer technologies and the issues involved in developing experimental protocols. The initiation of clinical trials should be a primary goal of gene therapy research programs.
Ledley
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Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Cell Biology, Baylor College of Medicine Houston, TX 77030.
D000818:Animals; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D026724:Ethical Review; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D035082:Federal Government; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D033161:Government Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D033242:Minors; D033281:Nontherapeutic Human Experimentation; D011639:Public Opinion; D012107:Research Design; D035842:Research Subjects; D018570:Risk Assessment; D036302:Therapeutic Human Experimentation; D014162:Transfection