Vector development for cancer gene therapy

With results now coming through from the first trials of gene therapy in tu mor patients, it is clear that improvements need to be made to the efficien cy of gene delivery vectors. Improvements in vector titre go hand in hand w ith developments in vector targeting. As well as refining existing vector s ystems, there is a place now for imaginative thinking to create novel vecto rs which cross, and extend, established concepts of vector design. These no vel vectors will come from combining the beneficial features of different i ndividual systems and looking towards new and untried vectors still waiting to be exploited.