title: Vector therapies for malignant glioma: shifting the clinical paradigm.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Malignant glioma represents one of the most aggressive and devastating forms of human cancer. At present, there exists no successful treatment for this disease. Gene therapy, or vector therapy, has emerged as a viable experimental treatment method for intracranial malignancies.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Vector therapy paradigms that have entered the clinical arena have shown adequate safety; however, the majority of the studies failed to observe significant clinical benefits. As such, researchers have refocused their efforts on developing novel vectors as well as new delivery methods to enhance the therapeutic effect of a particular vector. In this review, we discuss common vector therapy approaches used in clinical trials, their drawbacks and potential ways of overcoming these challenges.
  
  
  METHODS
  We focus on the experimental evaluation of cell-based vector therapies and adenoviral and herpes simplex virus type 1 vectors in the treatment of malignant glioma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Vector therapy remains a promising treatment strategy for malignant glioma. Although significant questions remain to be answered, early clinical data suggest safety of this approach and future studies will likely address the efficacy of the proposed therapy.
authors.affiliation: University of Chicago, The Brain Tumor Center, 5841 S. Maryland Avenue, MC 3026, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Tyler
authors.forename: Adam M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Sonabend
authors.forename: Ilya V
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Ulasov
authors.forename: Maciej S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lesniak
mesh_terms: D000256:Adenoviridae / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D005910:Glioma / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000235:genetics