title: Gene therapy for liver metastases.
abstract: Although resection is currently the only curative approach for metastatic liver cancer, only a small number of cases are suitable for this procedure. In the past few years, gene therapy has emerged as an appealing treatment option for liver cancer. Phase I and II clinical trials have been conducted in patients with either primary or secondary liver cancer using a variety of genes including tumor-suppressor gene p53, suicide genes, immune genes, and replication-competent oncolytic adenoviruses. The results have shown that, although gene therapy has been well tolerated and toxicity has been low, the clinical benefit has so far been marginal. Gene therapy as a definitive treatment for liver metastases remains limited, at least for the time being, but it may be useful as an adjuvant treatment in combination with radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and/or surgery to achieve disease-free survival.
authors.affiliation: Liver Surgery Section, Department of Surgical Oncology and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK.
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Havlik
authors.forename: Long R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nicholls
authors.forename: Steen Lindkaer
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: Nagy A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Habib
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D043525:Cytosine Deaminase; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D016147:Genes, Tumor Suppressor; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000556:secondary* / Q000628:therapy*; D009700:Nucleoside Deaminases / Q000235:genetics; D013937:Thymidine Kinase / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D013937:Thymidine Kinase; D009700:Nucleoside Deaminases; D043525:Cytosine Deaminase