Chapter 23 - In vivo gene therapy with p53 or p21 adenovirus for prostate cancer

Abstract

A major impediment to the successful application of gene therapy for the treatment of a range of diseases is not a paucity of therapeutic genes, but the lack of an efficient nontoxic gene delivery system. Having evolved to deliver their genes to target cells, viruses are currently the most effective means of gene delivery and can be manipulated to express therapeutic genes or to replicate specifically in certain cells. Viruses have evolved to become highly efficient at nucleic acid delivery to specific cell types while avoiding immunosurveillance by an infected host. These properties make viruses attractive gene delivery vehicles, or vectors, for gene therapy. Several types of viruses, including retrovirus, adenovirus, adeno-associated virus, and herpes simplex virus, have been modified in the laboratory for use in gene therapy applications. Currently, viral vectors based on many different viruses have been developed, and their performance and pathogenicity have been evaluated in animal models. This approach has been most evident in the treatment of cancer, resulting in the recent licensing of a gene therapy for the routine treatment of head and neck cancer. The P53 and P21 genes are among the genes that are most used for the treatment of cancers, especially prostate cancer. In this chapter we will detail the P51 and P21 gene and their importance in gene therapy using adenoviruses in the treatment of prostate cancer.