Liver Cancer

AFP-Enhanced Gene Therapy Boosts Ganciclovir Efficacy

Published in Cancer Weekly, March 20th, 2001

by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer -- Human alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) appears to enhance the ability of a viral vector to deliver therapy to liver cancer cells.

Researchers working in Japan studied AFP's influence on the susceptibility of both healthy and cancerous liver cells to the drug ganciclovir.

"The aim of this study was to examine whether the human AFP enhancer could be used to induce hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-selective expression of the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-tk) gene, which is under the control of the phosphoglycerate kinase (pgk) promotor," said G. Cao and colleagues.

The researchers linked...

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Source: Cancer Weekly (2001-03-20)

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