Is gene therapy the answer for prostate cancer

Cancer Research UK Institute for Cancer Studies, University of Birmingham,Edgbaston, Birmingham, UKProstate cancer is the third most common cancer, accounting for one in 10 cancerdiagnoses in men worldwide during 2000. Despite this high burden of morbidity,there is a lack of curative treatments for locally advanced and metastatic disease.Good anatomical accessibility of the prostate combined with substantial molecularunderstanding of the disease makes prostate cancer an attractive target for genetherapy. Considerable progress has been made in the development of suitable genetransfer vectors and prostate-targeting strategies. Therapeutic approaches beingexplored fall into two broad categories: corrective and cytoreductive/cytolytic.There are currently 63 prostate cancer gene therapy clinical trials based on theseapproaches registered in the United States and United Kingdom. Althoughsignificant hurdles remain to be overcome, early clinical trial results areencouraging, suggesting that gene therapy may become an important treatmentoption for prostate cancer.Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases (2004) 7, S14–S19. doi:10.1038/sj.pcan.4500743Keywords: prostate neoplasms; gene therapy; genetic vectors; clinical trials; drug-delivery systems