Antiangiogenic gene therapy for cancer treatment.

It is now well established that tumor growth and spread are angiogenesis-dependent processes. Therefore, inhibition of angiogenesis is likely to be an effective anticancer approach. A gene therapy-mediated approach to the delivery of antiangiogenic agents has several advantages, including the potential for sustained expression. However, several variables need to be considered when designing this approach. In addition to the choice of angiogenesis inhibitor, these approaches include the system for gene transfer and the target for gene delivery/site of inhibitor expression. This review summarizes the major alternatives within each of these categories and provides illustrative examples of their use in preclinical models.