title: Combined therapeutic use of AdGFPFasL and small molecule inhibitors of ceramide metabolism in prostate and head and neck cancers: a status report.
abstract: As of January 2005, there were 1020 gene therapy clinical trials ongoing worldwide with 675 or 66.2% devoted to cancer gene therapy. The majority are occurring in the US and Europe (http://www.wiley.co.uk/genetherapy/clinical/). At the present time, to our knowledge there are no trials that employ gene delivery of Fas Ligand (FasL). As an important note, and in contrast to somatic cell therapy trials, there are no reported deaths due to therapeutic vector administration in any cancer gene therapy trial. That said, from our studies and from the published literature, the issue of gene delivery remains the major obstacle to successfully employing gene therapy for cancer treatment. Numerous laboratories are studying this with many different approaches. My co-workers and I have focused on the delivery issue by using various approaches that address tumor targeting and transgene expression. In addition, we are focusing on enhancing tumor cell killing via the bystander effect and through use of small molecules to enhance bystander activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), Charleston, SC 29425, USA. norrisjs@musc.edu
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Norris
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bielawska
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Day
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: El-Zawahri
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: ElOjeimy
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hannun
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Holman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hyer
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Landon
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lowe
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McKillop
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Norris
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Obeid
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rubinchik
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tavassoli
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tomlinson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Voelkel-Johnson
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000256:Adenoviridae / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D024201:Bystander Effect; D002518:Ceramides / Q000378:metabolism*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015398:Signal Transduction; D019076:Transgenes
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D002518:Ceramides; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein; D011994:Recombinant Proteins