The potential use of carboxypeptidase G₂ in the treatment of cancer

Abstract

This article reviews recent patents (1996 - 1999) which have disclosed novel strategies for targeted cancer therapy and which have cited the enzyme carboxypeptidase G₂ (CPG₂) as a preferred component. Although the described procedures share the common goal of selectively targeting CPG₂ to cancer sites so that it can be used to act catalytically on a separately administered substance, a number of different methods have been employed to achieve this aim. These include the use of polymers and antibodies as targeting vectors, the use of vectors encoding the enzyme for intra- or extracellular expression and the use of a small-molecule enzyme inhibitor. The methodology and scope of each invention is described and their advantages and disadvantages discussed within the context of the relevant scientific literature.

• ADEPT
• carboxypeptidase G2
• GDEPT
• prodrug