Oncology looks beyond chemotherapy for better responses

Abstract

Clinical and research oncologists have had an uneasy feeling for several years that conventional anticancer agents may have reached the limit of their potential. Researchers have predicted that the war against cancer will ultimately be won by immunological weapons. New clues about stimulating the immune system and strong correlations between cancer and newly discovered gene mutations appear to validate this direction of attack. Three phase I trial reports presented at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) [ Denver, US; May 1997 ], described the use of ‘targeted cancer therapy’ using adenoviruses that are either cytotoxic in cells with mutations in the p53 tumour suppressor gene or that transport normal p53 genes into tumour cells.