title: Targeted gene therapy for ovarian cancer.
abstract: Despite advances in therapy, advanced ovarian cancer maintains a dismal overall survival of 15-30%. Thus, the need for novel therapeutic modalities exists. Gene therapy represents one such approach and the purpose of this review is to present a logical rationale for the investigation of gene therapy for the treatment of ovarian cancer. The different strategies of gene therapy (molecular chemotherapy (prodrugs), mutation compensation, immunotherapy approaches, altered drug sensitivity, and virotherapy) for cancer treatment are discussed separately with attention to investigations with clinical applicability. Furthermore, the different viral vectors utilized for improvements in targeted therapy are presented. The advancements, discovery, and shortcomings are reviewed which lend itself to future directions. These future directions involve coxsackie-adenovirus receptor (CAR) independent pathways to improve infectivity and specificity to ovarian tumor cells, the potential of utilizing gene therapy as an imaging modality in detecting cancer, and incorporating the recently described technique of RNA interference. Due to the advancements in detection and targeting of ovarian cancer, coupled with the containment to the intraperitoneal cavity, gene therapy remains a promising treatment modality for ovarian cancer.
authors.affiliation: University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, 618 South 19th Street, Old Hillman Building - Room 538, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA. rocconi@uab.edu
authors.forename: Rodney P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Rocconi
authors.forename: T Michael
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Numnum
authors.forename: Mariam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stoff-Khalili
authors.forename: Sharmila
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Makhija
authors.forename: Ronald D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.forename: David T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Curiel
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D018390:Gene Targeting; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D050130:Oncolytic Virotherapy; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D011355:Prodrugs / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D011355:Prodrugs