Gene Therapy Found to Inhibit Ovarian Cancer in Mice

Investigators have used gene therapy to either totally eliminate or considerably suppress tumor progression in a mouse model of ovarian cancer.

The researchers, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (PA, USA), believe these results, presented at the American Society of Gene Therapy annual meeting in Baltimore (MD, USA) in May/June 2006, may significantly improve the prognosis for ovarian cancer patients.

Despite aggressive surgery and chemotherapy treatments, the prognosis for ovarian cancer is poor, and most women have a life expectancy of only three to four years after their diagnoses. In this study, the investigators inoculated mice with an ovarian cancer cell line. They treated some of the mice right away with a genetically modified vaccinia virus containing a gene coding cytosine deaminase, a suicide gene, and delayed treatment of other mice for 30 or 60 days. Control mice were inoculated with ovarian cancer cells but were not given the gene therapy.

The scientists discovered complete suppression of tumor growth in the mice that were treated immediately with gene therapy and considerable tumor inhibition in the 30- and 60-day delayed treatment mice. In contrast, all non-gene-therapy treated mice either died or were euthanized because of increased accumulation of fluid in the peritoneal cavity by 94 days following tumor inoculation.

According to study researcher David L. Bartlett, M.D., professor of surgery and chief of the division of surgical oncology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, gene therapy provides an exciting new approach for treating ovarian cancer. "Current treatments for ovarian cancer are fairly harsh. Given their tumor selectivity and cancer killing potential, vaccinia vectors expressing recombinant gene products represents a potent, non-toxic alternative for treating this deadly disease,” he concluded.



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