Cancer Cells and The Virus-Directed Gene Therapy

Abstract

Cancer is a disease in which abnormal cells proliferate in an uncontrolled fashion and spread through the body.   To treat cancer, surgery, radiation and chemotherapy are presently performed as mainstream therapies.   However, some aggressive cancers in advanced stages are difficult to eradicate only by these therapies.   This paper discusses hallmarks of cancer along with the mechanisms by which cancer cells develop, followed by a consideration of gene therapy using lentiviral vectors to augment the conventional treatment methods.   In our study, lentiviral vectors with putative cancer cell specific promoters (CEA or COX-2 promoter) and a therapeutic gene (barnase) were applied to various human glioma cell lines.   The results indicated that infection efficiency and promoter activity were different between the glioma cells.   We further demonstrate that the vectors also kill a normal fibroblast cell line.   These results suggest the CEA and COX-2 promoter may be more active in gliomas but are not glioma specific.   We also demonstrate variability in infection efficiency between glioma cell lines.