Combination of local, non-viral IL12 gene therapy and systemic paclitaxel chemotherapy in a syngeneic ID8 mouse model for human ovarian cancer.

The in vivo feasibility of the previously established ID8 and ID8-VEGF ovarian cancer models for non-viral IL-12 gene delivery by itself or in combination with paclitaxel chemotherapy, was investigated in C57BL/6 black mice. The syngeneic mouse ovarian epithelium (MOSE) cancer cell line and its more aggressive variant, a VEGF-modified strain, were used to perform these experiments. Tumor growth and survival were observed in C57/BL6 mice, inoculated with both ID8 substrains. The superiority of IL-12 gene therapy in comparison to conventional paclitaxel chemotherapy in terms of tumor size and survival was demonstrated.