876. Development of a Novel Adenovirus-Alphavirus Hybrid Vector Providing High Efficacy and Safety in the Treatment of Liver Cancer

Abstract

Background & Aims: An ideal viral vector for cancer gene therapy should be able to infect tumors with high efficiency, provide high level of transgene expression specifically in tumors and selectively destroy tumor cells. In order to design such a vector for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) we took advantage of 1) the high infectivity of adenoviruses for hepatic cells, 2) the high level of protein expression and pro-apoptotic properties that characterize alphavirus replicons and 3) tumor selectivity provided by alpha fetoprotein (AFP) promoter.