Endothelial Progenitors as Vectors for Systemic Gene Therapy of Breast Cancer
Abstract
The development of resistance to radiation and chemotherapeutic agents that cause DNA damage is a major problem for the treatment of breast cancer, which argues for the development of new therapeutic agents that can either augment the effects of radiation and chemotherapy or that can be applied as an adjunct or alternative treatments. One promising new treatment modality is the application of vector mediated gene therapy. A noted problem with many vectors, including both viral and non-viral vectors, used for gene therapy is the lack of efficient and targeted delivery to the primary tumor and disseminated metastases. To address this issue, we propose the use of CD34+ and/or Flk-1 + endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), which have the propensity of homing to sites of neoangiogenesis. Key to the success of this approach is a vector system for the efficient genetic modification of the EPCs. In this regard, we have shown previously that CD34+ EPCs are efficiently transduced using herpesvirus vectors with relatively low multiplicity of infections and toxicity.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA396752
Entities
People
- Jerry L. Blackwell
Organizations
- University of Alabama