Pseudotyped retrovectors for tumor-specific delivery of toxic suicide genes.
Tumor-targeted gene transfer of the suicide gene, herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-TK) is an extremely powerful biopharmaceutical approach for the treatment of cancer. However, no substantive clinical benefit has been reported since this concept was first developed more than a decade ago. This review summarizes the current status of human clinical trials employing viral-vector based delivery of HSV-TK as well as novel means being developed by which killing of tumor cells could be enhanced. In particular, we discuss of the use of VSV-G pseudotyped retrovectors in successfully achieving high tumor-restricted gene transfer efficiency in preclinical studies and the challenges still to be overcome to bring cancer gene therapy safely to the clinic.
Stagg
J
J
Division of Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Lady Meredith House, 1110 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1A3, Canada. johnstagg@hotmail.com
Galipeau
J
J