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Paramyxoviruses for Tumor-targeted Immunomodulation: Design and Evaluation Ex Vivo
12:42

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Published on: January 7, 2019

Adenoviral vectors for prodrug activation-based gene therapy for cancer

Joshua C Doloff, David J Waxman1

  • 1Department of Cell and Molecular, Biology, Boston University, 5 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, USA. djw@bu.edu.

Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry
|July 23, 2013
PubMed

Insights

This review explores using modified adenoviral vectors to target cancer cell heterogeneity and drug resistance. These vectors offer potential for improved cancer therapies by delivering genes specifically to tumors, including cancer stem cells.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Gene Therapy
  • Virology

Background:

  • Cancer cell heterogeneity complicates treatment, leading to varied responses and drug resistance.
  • Existing therapies struggle to address the diverse nature of cancer cells within a tumor and between patients.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the potential of modified adenoviral vectors for targeting cancer cell heterogeneity.
  • To discuss strategies for enhancing adenoviral vector specificity and therapeutic gene delivery.

Main Methods:

  • Discussion of adenoviral vector modifications for cancer-specific replication and gene delivery.
  • Exploration of multi-tiered regulatory strategies to target tumor heterogeneity, including cancer stem cells.
  • Review of combining prodrug-activation gene therapy with replication-conditional adenoviruses.

Main Results:

  • Adenoviral vectors can be engineered for cancer-specific replication and targeted gene delivery.
  • Combination strategies show promise for overcoming tumor heterogeneity and resistance.
  • Preclinical studies demonstrate anticancer activity, but clinical success is limited.

Conclusions:

  • Adenoviral vectors hold promise as oncolytic agents for targeting tumor heterogeneity.
  • Further improvements in activity, specificity, delivery, and immunogenicity are needed for clinical translation.

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