Suicide Gene Therapy

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

   PDF

2. Introduction to the Background, Principles, and State of the Art in Suicide Gene Therapy

   • Ion Niculescu-Duvaz, Caroline J. Springer

   Pages 1-27

3. Introduction to Vectors for Suicide Gene Therapy

   • Caroline J. Springer

   Pages 29-45

4. Construction of VNP20009

   • Kenneth Brooks Low, Martina Ittensohn, Xiang Luo, Li-Mou Zheng, Ivan King, John M. Pawelek et al.

   Pages 47-59

5. Nonreplicating DNA Viral Vectors for Suicide Gene Therapy

   • Masato Yamamoto, David T. Curiel

   Pages 61-70

6. Replication-Selective Oncolytic Adenoviruses

   • Gunnel Halldén, Stephen H. Thorne, Jingping Yang, David H. Kirn

   Pages 71-90

7. Retroviral Vectors for Suicide Gene Therapy

   • Colin Porter

   Pages 91-106

8. Nonviral Liposomes

   • Andrew D. Miller

   Pages 107-137

9. Peptide- and Polymer-Based Gene Delivery Vehicles

   • Richard Brokx, Jean Gariépy

   Pages 139-160

10. Design of Prodrugs for Suicide Gene Therapy

    • Dan Niculescu-Duvaz, Ion Niculescu-Duvaz, Caroline J. Springer

    Pages 161-202

11. Cytochrome P450-Based Gene Therapies for Cancer

    • E. Antonio Chiocca, David J. Waxman

    Pages 203-222

12. Tumor Sensitization to Purine Analogs by E. coli PNP

    • Kimberly V. Curlee, William B. Parker, Eric J. Sorscher

    Pages 223-245

13. Enzyme-Prodrug Systems

    • Mary K. Danks, Philip M. Potter

    Pages 247-262

14. Enzyme-Prodrug Systems

    • Alexandre Evrard, Joseph Ciccolini, Pierre Cuq, Jean-Paul Cano

    Pages 263-278

15. Methods to Improve Efficacy in Suicide Gene Therapy Approaches

    • Silke Schepelmann, Robert Spooner, Frank Friedlos, Richard Marais

    Pages 279-301

16. Extracellular β-Glucuronidase for Gene-Directed Enzyme-Prodrug Therapy

    • Sabine Brüsselbach

    Pages 303-330

17. Enhancement of Suicide Gene Prodrug Activation by Random Mutagenesis

    • Jean-Emmanuel Kurtz, Margaret E. Black

    Pages 331-344

18. Combination Suicide Gene Therapy

    • Wolfgang Uckert, Brian Salmons, Christian Beltinger, Walter H. Günzburg, Thomas Kammertöns

    Pages 345-352

19. Immune Response to Suicide Gene Therapy

    • Shigeki Kuriyama, Hirohisa Tsujinoue, Hitoshi Yoshiji

    Pages 353-369

20. Targeting Cancer With Gene Therapy Using Hypoxia as a Stimulus

    • Gabi U. Dachs, Olga Greco, Gillian M. Tozer

    Pages 371-387

Gene therapy has expanded rapidly over the last decade. The number of clinical trials reported by 2001 included 532 protocols and 3436 patients. Phase I trials predominate with 359 trials of 1774 patients versus Phase II (57 trials with 507 patients) and Phase III (3 trials of 251 patients). The disease overwhelmingly targeted by gene therapy is cancer: involving 331 trials with 2361 patients. Despite the somewhat disappointing results of clinical trials to date, gene therapy offers tremendous promise for the future of cancer therapy. The area of gene therapy is vast, and both malignant and nonmalignant cells can be targeted. Suicide Gene Therapy: Methods and Reviews covers gene therapy that targets malignant cells in a treatment that has become known as “suicide gene therapy. ” Basically, this approach uses the transduction of cancer cells with a gene for a foreign enzyme that, when expressed, is able to activate a nontoxic prodrug into a highly cytotoxic drug able to kill the cancer cell population. This is a major area in cancer gene therapy—in 2001 this technique was represented by 52 clinical protocols with a total of 567 patients. Additional trials used multiple gene therapy protocols that also involved suicide gene therapy (83 with 497 patients), indicating that the interest in this area is considerable. Suicide Gene Therapy: Methods and Reviews aims to cover comprehensively, both in theoretical and practical terms, the rapidly evolving area of suicide gene therapy for cancer.

"This is a good book for those working in the area of suicide gene therapy that can serve both as a reference to senior investigators as well as a primer to new lab members and researchers outside the field who are trying to get a flavor of the state of the field."-Doody's Health Sciences Book Review Journal

"...an extensive review of the theoretical background of suicide gene therapy that covers all major aspects..." - ChemBioChem

"Authoritative and up-to-date...provides the experimental means to advance its future development and therapeutic applications." - Anticancer Research

• Cancer Research UK Centre for Cancer Therapeutics at the Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, UK

  Caroline J. Springer

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