The current treatment for locally advanced and metastatic cancer involves either invasive surgery or radiation therapy and chemotherapy. This treatment plan can fundamentally reduce quality of life for the patient. Recent advances in translational cancer research have focused specifically on tumour-targeted therapy as an alternative treatment. Unique molecular biomarkers on cancerous cells are used to make a distinction between them and non-cancerous cells.
Gene Therapy relies on an effective targeting and delivery system into the cell, via a vector. Recent research has revealed that replication-deficient adenoviruses are extremely useful as vectors. They are able to infect dividing and non-dividing cells and are systemically stable. The safety of using these adenoviruses has been investigated and improved through nearly 200 human trials. The disadvantage of using adenoviruses includes their broad tropism for a wide range of cells in different tissues.
Experiments have shown that “Ad5-Flag-LDS targets HNSCC (Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma) cells, primarily because of the over-expression of the Hsp47 biomarker on the cell surface.” The impact of adenovirus vectors is greatly increased through improvements in this targeting and delivery system, thus enhancing the therapeutic outcome. Adenovirus vectors will reduce the toxicity of the treatment by reduction of damage to surrounding cells. “Targeted adenovirus vectors may eventually enable systemic therapy to not only treat the primary tumor but also local regional nodal metastases or even disseminated disease.”
References:
Li D. Guang W. Abuzeid WM. Roy S. Gao GP. Sauk JJ. O'Malley BW Jr. Novel adenoviral gene delivery system targeted against head and neck cancer. [Journal Article. Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural. Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't] Laryngoscope. 118(4):650-8, 2008 Apr.
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