title: Clinical development of gene therapy for colorectal cancer.
abstract: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common type of malignancy in Western nations. Improvements in surgical and radiotherapeutic techniques and the increased availability of new cytotoxic drugs have improved outcome, but 50% of patients still die from recurrent or metastatic disease. Several features of its natural history render CRC a good candidate for gene therapy. Techniques include gene replacement, virus-directed enzyme-prodrug therapy, immune manipulation and virotherapy, all of which have entered clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: National Translational Cancer Research Network, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Radcliffe Infirmary, Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6HE, UK. david.kerr@clinpharm.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kerr
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D004798:Enzymes / Q000235:genetics; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D008954:Models, Biological; D011355:Prodrugs; D014780:Viruses / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004798:Enzymes; D011355:Prodrugs