title: Effect of electrically mediated intratumor and intramuscular delivery of a plasmid encoding IFN alpha on visible B16 mouse melanomas.
abstract: Interferon alpha may be used as a single agent therapy for metastatic malignant melanoma or as an adjuvant to chemotherapy. Delivery of interferon alpha by gene therapy offers an alternative to recombinant protein therapy. Electrically mediated delivery enhances plasmid expression in a number of tissues, for instance skin, liver, muscle and tumors including melanomas. Here we compare the effect of delivery of a plasmid encoding mouse interferon alpha on growth of visible B16 mouse melanomas following electrically mediated delivery to muscle or directly to the tumor. Intratumoral delivery of interferon alpha plasmid not only slows melanoma growth, but induces complete, long term, regression. This effect was not observed after intramuscular delivery.
authors.affiliation: University of South Florida, Center for Molecular Delivery, Department of Surgery MDC16, 12901 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa, FL 33612, USA. lheller@hsc.usf.edu
authors.forename: Loree C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Heller
authors.forename: Stephanie F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Ingram
authors.forename: M Lee
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Lucas
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Heller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005260:Female; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000235:genetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008546:Melanoma, Experimental / Q000628:therapy*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D016898:Interferon-alpha