Pinpointing Cancer Cells
Our second area of focus within gene therapy is tumor targeting, which involves delivering genes directly into cancer cells. This may include delivering tumor suppressor genes to control growth, suicide genes to kill tumor cells, or genes that prevent the blood vessel formation necessary for tumors to grow. For these types of therapies, the critical challenge lies in reaching tumor cells or tumor vasculature, wherever they may be in the body. In preclinical models, Genzyme Molecular Oncology's lipid delivery vectors have demonstrated the ability to travel through the bloodstream and seek out cancerous cells.
Our expertise in gene delivery represents a valuable resource for collaborators. We signed the first such collaboration with Schering-Plough Corporation in late 1997. Schering-Plough has an option to use our lipid vectors with six proprietary genes, beginning with the p53 tumor suppressor gene. This gene, which encodes a protein responsible for controlling cell growth, has been shown to be defective in over 50 percent of all cancers. A gene therapy able to restore p53 function could be a revolutionary advance for many cancer patients. In the future, we plan to continue to optimize gene delivery technology for use with our proprietary cancer genes, while also seeking additional partners in need of the most effective methods for gene delivery. |
