Gene therapy of cancer with interferon: lessons from tumor models and perspectives for clinical applications.
Cytokine gene transfer is a current approach in studies of gene therapy of cancer IFNs represent valuable cytokines for these studies, since they exert multiple biological effects, including anti-tumor activities. Early studies have been focused on IFN-gamma. Recently, several reports have shown that the transfer of type I IFN (especially IFN-alpha) genes represents a powerful approach for inducing tumor suppression. Recent studies have underscored new IFN-induced activities on immune cells. This knowledge adds a further rationale for the use of IFN-alpha in strategies of gene therapy of cancer and can be exploited for the design of more selective and effective anticancer treatments.
Ferrantini
M
M
Laboratory of Virology, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
Belardelli
F
F
D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons / Q000235:genetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*
D007372:Interferons