Skip to main content
Log in

Neuro-oncology

The long and winding road—gene therapy for glioma

  • News & Views
  • Published:

From Nature Reviews Neurology

View current issue Sign up to alerts

Gene therapy approaches for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) have been under investigation in clinical trials since the 1990s, but the results to date have been disappointing. A recently published phase III trial of adenovirus-based gene therapy for GBM has demonstrated modest—but possibly clinically relevant—improvements in patient survival.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

References

  1. Grossman, S. A. et al. Survival of patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma treated with radiation and temozolomide in research studies in the United States. Clin. Cancer Res. 16, 2443–2449 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Rainov, N. G. A phase III clinical evaluation of herpes simplex virus type 1 thymidine kinase and ganciclovir gene therapy as an adjuvant to surgical resection and radiation in adults with previously untreated glioblastoma multiforme. Hum. Gene Ther. 11, 2389–2401 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Westphal, M. et al. Adenovirus-mediated gene therapy with sitimagene ceradenovec followed by intravenous ganciclovir for patients with operable high-grade glioma (ASPECT): a randomised, open-label, phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol. 14, 823–833 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Sandmair, A. M. et al. Thymidine kinase gene therapy for human malignant glioma, using replication-deficient retroviruses or adenoviruses. Hum. Gene Ther. 11, 2197–2205 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Immonen, A. et al. AdvHSV-tk gene therapy with intravenous ganciclovir improves survival in human malignant glioma: a randomised, controlled study. Mol. Ther. 10, 967–972 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Ark Therapeutics Ltd withdraws its marketing authorisation application for Cerepro (sitimagene ceradenovec). European Medicines Agency [online], (2011).

  7. Meade, T. Primary prevention of ischaemic cardiovascular disorders with antiplatelet agents. Handb. Exp. Pharmacol. 210, 565–605 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Wollmann, G., Odzuman, K. & van den Pol, A. N. Oncolytic virus therapy for glioblastoma multiforme: concepts and candidates. Cancer J. 18, 69–81 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Curtin, J. F. et al. HMGB1 mediates endogenous TLR2 activation and brain tumor regression. PLoS Med. 6, e10 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Maria G. Castro or Pedro R. Lowenstein.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Castro, M., Lowenstein, P. The long and winding road—gene therapy for glioma. Nat Rev Neurol 9, 609–610 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2013.198

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2013.198

  • Springer Nature Limited

Navigation