PROSPECTS FOR GENE-THERAPY IN HUMAN PROSTATE-CANCER

Prostate cancer is the most common neoplasm in men and a significant c ause of mortality in affected patients. Despite significant advances, current methods of treatment are effective only in the absence of meta static disease. Gene therapy offers a renewed hope of using the differ ential characteristics of normal and malignant tissue in constructing treatment strategies. Several clinical trials in prostate cancer gene therapy are currently under way, using immunomodulatory genes, anti-on cogenes, tumor suppressor genes and suicide genes. A continued underst anding of the etiological mechanisms involved in the establishment and progression of prostate cancer, along with advances in gene therapy t echnology, should make gene therapy for prostate cancer therapeuticall y valuable in the future.