Gene Therapy for Melanoma

Melanoma skin cancer ---> melanoma treatment ---> melanoma gene therapy

The technical feasibility of transfer of genetic material into somatic cells has established a new approach to the treatment of malignancies. Many of the gene therapy strategies for cancer have focused on modulating the host immune response by altering tumor cells to be more immunogenic. A variety of preclinical studies have demonstrated that genetic engineering of tumor cells to secrete or express immunoregulatory peptides (i.e., cytokines, costimulatory molecules, or adhesion molecules) increases the host immune response to these tumors Several clinical studies are evaluating the efficacy of genetic modification of melanoma tumor cells to secrete cytokines that can be administered to patients as tumor vaccines.