P53 vaccines for the treatment of cancers

The present invention relates to immunotherapy methods for treating hyperproliferative disease in humans, particularly to hyperproliferative disease that is refractory to therapy. More specifically, the invention is directed, in one embodiment, to methods for treating a subject with a hyperproliferative disease in which the expression of a self gene is upregulated in therapy-resistant hyperproliferative cells. In another embodiment, an adenoviral expression construct comprising a self gene under the control of a promoter operable in eukaryotic cells is administered to the therapy-resistant hyperproliferative cells. The present invention thus provides immunotherapies for treating therapy-resistant hyperproliferative disease by attenuating the natural immune system\u27s CTL response against hyperproliferative cells or overexpressing mutant p53 antigens, for example

Cancer targeting using tumor suppressor genes

Conventional cancer treatments include cytotoxic chemotherapies and radiotherapy, which result in significant collateral toxicities. The goal for future cancer treatments is to leverage improved understanding of cancer biology mechanisms and thereby develop targeted drugs that display exquisite tumor selectivity and avoid iatrogenic damage. In this review, we discuss the potential of tumor suppressor genes for development of cancer-selective drugs using the tumor suppressor p53 as an archetype