Gene medicine for cancer treatment: Commercially available medicine and accumulated clinical data in China

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Authors: Guangyu Ma, Hideaki Shimada, Kenzo Hiroshima, Yuji Tada, Nobuo Suzuki, Masatoshi Tagawa

Published Date August 2008 Volume 2008:2 Pages 115 - 122

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/DDDT.S3535

Guangyu Ma^1,3, Hideaki Shimada², Kenzo Hiroshima⁴, Yuji Tada⁵, Nobuo Suzuki³, Masatoshi Tagawa¹

¹Division of Pathology, Chiba Cancer Center Research Institute; ²Division of Gastroenterological Surgery, Chiba Cancer Center, Chiba, Japan; ³Department of Environmental Biochemistry; ⁴Department of Diagnostic Pathology; ⁵Department of Respirology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan

Abstract: Loss of p53 function compromises genetic homeostasis, which induces deregulated DNA replication, damages DNA, and subsequently results in increased resistance to anticancer agents. Pharmacological approaches using recombinant adenoviruses (Ad) have been developed to restore the p53 functions. Another approach for gene medicine is to modify Ad replication in a tumor-specific manner, which induces tumor cell death without damaging normal tissues in the vicinity. The Ad-derived gene medicines, Ad expressing the wild-type p53 gene and replication-competent Ad defective of the E1B-55kDa gene, have been tested for their clinical feasibility and became commercially available in China. These agents demonstrated their antitumor activities as a monotherapy and in combination with conventional chemotherapeutic agents. In this article, we summarize the outcomes of clinical trials in China, most of which have been published in domestic Chinese journals, and discuss potential directions of cancer gene therapy with these agents.

Keywords: gene therapy, cancer, clinical trials, p53, adenovirus, E1B