ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the molecular biology of gene therapy and its application to the clinical research on treatments for primary and metastatic brain tumors. Gene therapy as a potential treatment of cancer has exploded onto the forefront of medicine. Depending upon the mode of action of the gene that is inserted into the tumor, a different treatment approach may be indicated. glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tumors infiltrate into the surrounding brain parenchyma, successfully avoiding complete surgical resection and complicating radiotherapy. The number and type of metastatic brain tumors generally follow the incidence of systemic cancers in the general population, with lung, breast, and colorectal cancers being the most common. In the brain, the tumor is the most mitotically active cell; macrophage-derived cells, blood cells, and endothelial cells are only minimally mitotic. There are several disadvantages to the use of adenoviral vectors in the brain.
