ABSTRACT
Gene therapy, which aims to restore, modify or enhance cellular functions through the introduction of a functional gene into a target cell, has captured attention. The intuitive concepts of gene therapy together with exciting early results in animal models have led to the worldwide enthusiasm for this new direction in medicine. Over 900 gene therapy clinical trials were approved worldwide from March 1989 to July 2005 (https://www.wiley.co.uk/genetherapy/clinical/). Of these clinical trials, 66% are directed toward cancer therapy. Seventy-two of these gene therapy trials specifically involving prostate cancer (PCA) are currently registered with National Institute of Health in December 2005 (https://www.gemcris.od.nih.gov). Early results of these trials were hampered by three areas of major problems: vector efficiency, expression of the recombinant gene, and adverse immunological reaction to the vector.
