title: Clinical potential of gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapy to improve radiation therapy in prostate cancer patients.
abstract: Despite the advances in prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment, current therapies are not curative in a significant proportion of patients. Gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapy (GDEPT), when combined with radiation therapy, could improve the outcome of treatment for prostate cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death in the western world. GDEPT involves the introduction of a therapeutic transgene, which can be targeted to the tumour cells. A prodrug is administered systemically and is converted to its toxic form only in those cells containing the transgene, resulting in cell kill. This review will discuss the clinical trials which have investigated the potential of GDEPT at various stages of prostate cancer progression. The advantages of using GDEPT in combination with radiotherapy will be examined, as well as some of the recent advances which enhance the potential utility of GDEPT.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Medicine, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. vajdaa@tcd.ie
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vajda
authors.forename: Laure
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marignol
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Foley
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lawler
authors.forename: Donal
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hollywood
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D057487:Enzyme Therapy; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011355:Prodrugs / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000628:therapy*; D011838:Radiation-Sensitizing Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011878:Radiotherapy
chemical_list: D011355:Prodrugs; D011838:Radiation-Sensitizing Agents