Immune gene therapy of cancer
Hakan Akbulut
Abstract
Cancer gene therapy emerged as a promising treatment modality 3 decades ago. However, the failure of the first gene therapy trials in cancer treatment has decreased its popularity. Likewise, immunotherapy has followed a similar course. While it was a popular and promising treatment with IL-2 and interferon and cancer vaccines in the 1980s, it later lost its popularity. Immunotherapy became one of the main options for cancer treatment with the successful use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in clinics approximately 10 years ago. The success of immunotherapy has increased even more with the introduction of cancer gene therapy methods in this area. With the identification of the oncolytic herpes simplex virus and Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells, immune gene therapy has become an essential modality in cancer treatments such as surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapies.