Antisense oligonucleotide therapeutics for human leukemia

The development of reliable gene disruption strategies, and their application in living cells, has proven to be an extraordinarily important advance for cell and molecular biologists. Using the various available approaches, the specific functions of any given gene may now be investigated directly in the relevant cell type. Application of similar experimental tools in a clinical setting might prove to be equally valuable and could well form the basis of a monumental advance in the practice of clinical medicine. This seems particularly true at the present time since much progress has been made in understanding the molecular pathogenesis of many diseases, including cancer. For these reasons a tremendous amount of interest has been generated in the use of oligodeoxynucleotides to modify gene expression. However, in spite of some notable successes which are detailed in this review, oligonucleotides have generated controversy in regards to their mechanism of action, reliability, and ultimate therapeutic utility. Nevertheless, the potential power of the "antisense" approach remains undisputed, and its ultimate therapeutic utility is far reaching. Accordingly, the problems associated with the use of these compounds are clearly worth solving. It remains the hope of many laboratories that the day will soon come when these techniques will make an important contribution to the management of CML and other neoplastic disorders.