Current status and future aspects of prostate cancer gene therapy - Will it be a revolutionary therapy?

Gene therapy has been attracting much interest in the field of cancer therapy. Following the successful basic research outcome on gene therapy, clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of gene therapy have been initiated for many kinds of cancer. In this paper, the current status of prostate cancer gene therapy is reviewed focusing on the basic and clinical research outcome of adenovirus-mediated herpes simplex virus-thymidine kinase gene transduction and ganciclovir administration, so-called suicide gene therapy. Basic research on this suicide gene therapy for prostate cancer was conducted at the Baylor College of Medicine where the author was actively involved. A clinical phase 1 trail was also initiated at the Baylor College of Medicine to evaluate the safety and activity on prostate cancer. Future aspects of prostate cancer gene therapy are also discussed in this paper. The final goal of this innovative strategy is to develop and establish efficient treatment modalities for metastatic hormone-independent prostatic cancer. Many kinds of basic research are currently under way in an effort to realize the above goal.