title: Gene Therapy of Bladder Cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND: The incidence of bladder cancer has been steadily increasing and, despite improvements in treatment, many patients will not survive five years. Gene therapy is a promising approach that may improve the management of this disease. METHODS: Gene therapy involves two steps: (1) selection of an appropriate gene and (2) transfer of that gene to the target cells. RESULTS: Five broad categories of cancer gene therapy are undergoing clinical evaluation: (1) immunological augmentation by cytokine or (2) foreign gene transfer into tumor cells, (3) insertion of a suicide gene into tumor cells, (4) tumor suppressor gene reconstitution, and (5) bone marrow protection by insertion of a multidrug resistance gene. CONCLUSIONS: Although many gene transfer approaches have great intuitive appeal, several constraints, including problems with methods of gene transfer, must be overcome before this biologic approach can reach its potential.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, Florida 33612, USA.
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Seigne