2. 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
4. 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
5. 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
6. Knock down of WTAP in acute
myeloid leukemia (AML)
WTAP is normally an oncogenic protein that stabilizes cyclin
A2
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
7. 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
8. 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