Chapter 18 - Utility of Adenoviral Vectors in Animal Models of Human Disease I: Cancer

Abstract

This chapter discusses the utility of the adenoviral vectors in animal models of cancer. It mainly focuses on the use of animal models in the process of evaluating adenoviral gene transfer strategies for the treatment of human cancer. Animal models of lung cancer and human prostate cancer are discussed along with different therapeutic approaches such as immunotherapy and gene therapy with adenovectors. To realize the full potential of cancer gene therapy, advances must be made on a number of fronts. Construction of better Ad-vectors, more relevant animal models, and incorporating emerging technologies to a useful purpose within the experimental design are required for developing new gene therapy strategies. The implementation of a quantitative and noninvasive method capable of monitoring transgene expression in living animals repetitively would be useful toward validating the efficacy of any gene therapy strategy.