Viruses, the vehicle for cancer gene therapy: A Review

Abstract

Cancer diseases are among the world’s leading causes of death, and this global burden is expected to rise in the next two decades. Researchers have been focusing on gene treatment strategy to curb this growing number. To guarantee the success of the gene therapy strategy, therefore, it is essential to develop a suitable delivery agent, notably a viral vector. Despite its benefits, there is also a disadvantage in viral vectors where viruses are hard to cope with their toxicity. Nevertheless, for their long-term expression and stability, viral delivery agents are preferred. To date, among the frequently used vehicles for gene transfer are adenovirus (Ad), adeno-associated virus (AAV), retrovirus, and lentivirus. Each one of these viruses has its own “pros and cons,” rendering them a choice for gene therapy testing. A broad range of gene transfer technologies have been designed over these years, but all transferring technologies still have constraints in clinical applications, and there are no distribution systems that could be implemented in vitro and in vivo in all cell types without any limitations or side effects.