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.
Laboratory of Virology, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
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Ferrantini
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Belardelli
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