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Suicide Gene Combination Targets Breast Cancer
March 07, 2000A new 'mix and match' cancer therapy is being unveiled at the British Endocrine Societies meeting in Birmingham today.
A group, headed by Professor Nicholas Lemoine of the ICRF, is using a combination of suicide genes to selectively target advanced breast cancer. Initial results have shown that the therapy was successfully targeted at 11 out of the 12 (92%) affected patients in the phase 1 study.
Professor Lemoine's group introduced plasmids containing suicide genes into breast cancer tissue. Once in the cancerous cells, the suicide genes are activated by the cell's own DNA control (transcription) mechanism. The suicide genes only respond to the type of transcription which takes place in tumour cells and then selectively kill the cancerous cells. Professor Lemoine says "the suicide genes come into the tumour via a kind of 'Trojan Horse'; the genes are harmless when introduced, but once inside, the cancer's own control systems triggers the selective destruction."
"By using a combination of these suicide genes, we can maximise the effect without losing specificity. It's like using a combination of antibiotics to attack infection."
Professor Lemoine hopes to extend his work to liver and
ovarian cancer before the end of the year. "This work is still several years away from producing a workable cancer therapy, but the initial results look promising". The first gene therapies for cancer are predicted to be available in 2001.
Society for Endocrinology
"By using a combination of these suicide genes, we can maximise the effect without losing specificity. It's like using a combination of antibiotics to attack infection."
Professor Lemoine hopes to extend his work to liver and
ovarian cancer before the end of the year. "This work is still several years away from producing a workable cancer therapy, but the initial results look promising". The first gene therapies for cancer are predicted to be available in 2001.
Society for Endocrinology
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