Gene therapy for ovarian cancer: development of novel treatment strategies

Abstract

In the last decade, advances in molecular biology have lead to the development of techniques that permit the manipulation of mammalian cell DNA for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Gene therapy has subsequently evolved as a treatment option in patients with malignancies. In this article, we have summarized current strategies in gene therapy for ovarian cancer.

Effect of Desire to Have a Baby on Risk Acceptance in Turkish Infertile Women

“…The effect of these risk factors differs from person to person, but approximately 10% of ovarian cancer cases have a genetic predisposition (Hughes, Roche, Campbell, Siegel, Salisbury, Chekos, et al, 2003;Parazzini, Chiaffarino, Negri, Surace, Benzi, Franceschi, et al, 2004;Brunsvold, Wung, & Merkle, 2005). Despite preventive measures to decrease risk factors and the advances in gene therapy, it is still not possible to fully prevent a disease with a genetic predisposition using current technology (Dorigo & Berek, 1997;Brewer, Johnson, Follen, Gershenson, & Bast, 2003). The asymptomatic course of the disease makes early diagnosis and treatment difficult and most ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed at advanced stages (Menczer, 2000;Pfisterer, Harter, Canzler, Richter, Jackisch, Hahmann, et al, 2005) with quite low five-year survival rates (Ozols, 2005;Shimada, Kigawa, Kanamori, Itamochi, Oishi, Minagawa, et al, 2005;Shylasree, Howells, Lim, Jones, Fiander, Adams, & Evans, 2006).…”

Antitumoral effect of interleukin-12-secreting fibroblasts in a mouse model of ovarian cancer: Implications for the use of ovarian cancer biopsy-derived fibroblasts as a vehicle for regional gene therapy

“…In the majority of these studies, human ovarian cancer cells were injected s.c. into such animals. 4,41 The ID8 ovarian cancer model used in our study has the advantage that it is an immunocompetent model; in addition, the peritoneal dissemination of the ID8 ovarian cancer cells closely resembles the clinical situation.…”

“…One such additional strategy may be gene therapy. [3][4][5][6][7] In vivo gene transfer lacks specificity and/or efficacy for malignant cells at present. 8,9 However, ex vivo gene transfer can be achieved by a wide variety of gene therapy vectors.…”

“…Gene therapy may eventually complement existing ovarian cancer therapies to treat minimal residual disease. [3][4][5][6][7] Despite considerable efforts, most in vivo gene delivery systems lack tumor specificity, and the efficiency of gene transfer and expression unfortunately remains low. 8,9 Instead of in vivo gene therapy, where a vector containing therapeutic genes is injected directly into the patient, one could explore ex vivo gene therapy, which consists of removing target cells from the body, transfecting them with therapeutic genes, and reinjecting these genetically engineered cells into the patient.…”

Recent Advances in the Management of Gynecologic Cancers

“…In this landscape, an entirely new paradigm for the prevention, cure, and treatment of human diseasegene therapy -is beginning to evolve. 75) Gene therapy has emerged as a powerful weapon against cancer. Since the first human gene therapy in early 1990, more than 70% of gene therapy protocol is targeting cancer.…”