Literary Investigation on

Gene Therapy in the

Treatment of CancerBy: Evin Rothschild

Background

Radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery are widely used

treatment methods

Severe side effects for radiation and chemotherapy

Radiation and chemotherapy are not always effective

Gene therapy can either work on its own or in addition

to radiation and chemotherapy

Gene therapy can be more effective with less side

effects because it targets cancer cells rather than all

cells

Purpose

To investigate safer, more effective ways in treating

cancer

Methods

Many gene therapy methods used to fight cancer involve

a gene knockdown

Gene knockdowns involve silencing the expression of the

specific targeted gene downstream in the process to

avoid upstream effects of the mutated gene

Knock down of Ubb gene to down

regulate Ubiquitin

Ubitiquin has wide variety of uses

Focus on it’s ability to help a cancer cell overcome

stresses that would normally kill the cancer cell

Found in high amounts in a variety of cancers

After knockdown, cell proliferation inhibited by 55% and

induced apoptotic death in many cells

Shrinks tumors in mice so the tumors could

potentially be operated on

Knock down of WTAP in acute

myeloid leukemia (AML)

WTAP is normally an oncogenic protein that stabilizes cyclinA2

Acts as a switch gene when partnered with Wilms Tumor 1

Found to be overexpressed in cases of AML which causes unregulated cell growth

After knock down, proliferation and clonogenic survival significantly decreased

Increased cell apoptosis after knockdown in addition to chemical treatment

Tumor size was smaller by 9 times in mice with knocked down WTAP

Knock down of EGFR in gastric

cancers

Epidermal growth factor receptor- binds with EGF to

allow cell growth in normal cells

When overactive, causes uncontrolled cell division

Shown to be overexpressed in gastric cancer cells

After knockdown, cell proliferation and invasion of the

cancer were reduced while cell apoptosis was induced

after the gene knockdown

Discussion

Gene therapy could be a promising treatment method

for a variety of types of cancers

Many methods are very gene specific, thus making them

cancer specific

A form of personalized medicine- finding the cause of

the problem and stopping it there

Works cited

http://www.cancer.net/navigating-cancer-care/how-cancer-treated/chemotherapy/side-effects-chemotherapy)

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Therapy/radiation

http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/therapy/genetherapy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubiquitin#Functions_of_ubiquitin_modification)

Oh, Choongseob, Soonyong Park, Eun Kyung Lee, and Yung Joon Yoo. "Downregulation of Ubitiquin Level via Knockdown of Polyubitiquin Gene Ubb as Potential Cancer Theraputic Intervention." Nature 11 Sept. 2013: 2623. Print.

"WTAP Is a Novel Oncogenic Protein in Acute Myeloid Leukemia." Leukemia 13 Jan. 2014: 1171-174. Print

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/1956

Zhen, Y., L. Guanghui, and Z. Xiefu. "Knockdown of EGFR Inhibits Growth and Invasion of Gastric Cancer Cells." Cancer Gene Therapy 14 Nov. 2014: 491-97. Print.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Gelsinger

http://drbcshah.com/chemotherapy/