University of Pittsburgh researchers have used gene therapy to stop the growth of tumors in mice inoculated with ovarian cancer cells (poor mice, btw!). Tumors did not develop in these mice, which were treated immediately with a "suicide gene" that causes cancer cells to kill themselves. The gene also held tumor growth largely in check in mice treated up to 60 days after being injected with the cancer cells.
Current treatments for ovarian cancer are fairly harsh. Gene therapy, however, represents a potent, nontoxic alternative for treating this deadly disease.
