IN-VIVO MOLECULAR THERAPY WITH P53 ADENOVIRUS FOR MICROSCOPIC RESIDUAL HEAD AND NECK SQUAMOUS CARCINOMA

Developing gene therapy strategies may allow contemporary medicine to reassess its management of solid malignancies, We have demonstrated pr eviously that the wild-type p53 adenovirus (Ad5CMV-p53) suppressed the growth of established tumors of the head and neck, In this paper we d evelop a microscopic residual model which mimics the postsurgical envi ronment of head and neck cancer patients with advanced disease, Using this squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck model, we prevented the establishment of tumors in nude mice in which tumor cells had been s.c. implanted by transiently introducing exogenous wild-type p53 via an adenoviral vector 2 days following tumor cell implantation, These effects were vector dose dependent but independent on the endogenous w ild-type or mutated p53 status of the cells, Importantly, karyotypical ly normal and nontumorigenic fibroblast cell lines are inert to the p5 3 adenovirus treatment, These results pave the ground work for further development of molecular therapy for head and neck cancer and other s olid malignancies.