Gene Therapy and Cancer

Gene therapy is one of the new approaches to treating cancer. Gene therapy began only a decade ago. Compare this to pharmaceutical research that began over a hundred years ago. Ten years of medical research has taken us a long way. While it is a relatively new area of research it is offering very promising results. Human trials are underway on a number of applications. Gene therapy is the one approach that gets to the very base of the problem. There are many ways to approach any problem. The most direct approach for the problem of cancer is gene therapy.

GENES AND CANCER

Genes are the instructions that tell our cells what to do. Cancer is caused by damaged genes. These genes can be damaged in a number of ways: from birth, by the rays of the sun, by chemicals we breathe or eat, or by the aging process. These damaged genes change the messages the cells receive. They cause the cell to divide uncontrollably, to reproduce uncontrollably. And for us, the result is cancer. With genes being the cause of cancer, gene therapy is the most direct treatment approach. It gets to the base of the problem.

WHAT IS GENE THERAPY?

Gene therapy is the process of providing cells with new genetic material. Cells can be provided with healthy copies of genes or the part of the gene that is damaged. Or cancer cells can be delivered new genetic material that will allow them to be destroyed. Currently, gene therapy means taking cells from the blood or bone marrow of the patient. These cells are then grown in the lab. Viruses are used to deliver new genes or parts of genes into the cell. The cells are then returned to the patient. Further studies are also underway where viruses are used to deliver genetic material directly to the cells of the body.

THE ROLE OF THE VIRUS

The viruses used are ones that have been made inactive, this means they will not cause disease. Viruses are used because viruses naturally deliver material into a cell. They are experts at it. Viruses have DNA or genetic material of their own but they cannot live on their own. They must invade a cell and use the energy of that cell. They will invade a cell, add their DNA to the cell and then their DNA will direct the functions of that cell. Researchers take advantage of this fact. They remove the genetic material of the virus and replace it with what they want to deliver to the cell. One of the main problems of using viruses is that the body may recognise them as viruses and thus attack and kill them. This is one of the problems scientists must tackle.

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