Gene therapy vector design strategies for the treatment of cancer.

As gene therapy evolved over the years, it soon became evident that cancer would be a suitable target for this developing therapeutic area/field. Vector genomes can be manipulated to express therapeutic transgenes, which can lead to either a direct or indirect destruction of tumor cells. Gene therapy for cancer continues to evolve today. Current transgene strategies and their mechanisms of action will be reviewed here. In addition, approaches for targeting transgene expression using both transductional and transcriptional targeting strategies will be discussed. Finally, novel methods for improving tumor-targeted gene expression will be introduced. These new strategies incorporate an amplification feedback loop element to enhance tumor-restricted gene expression.