Gene therapy for the treatment of pituitary tumors

Abstract

Pituitary adenomas constitute the most frequent neuroendocrine pathology in humans. Current therapies include surgery, radiotherapy and pharmacological approaches. Although useful, they do not always offer a permanent cure. Current research efforts to implement gene therapy in pituitary tumors include the treatment of experimental adenomas with adenoviral vector-mediated transfer of the suicide gene for thymidine kinase, which converts the prodrug ganciclovir into a toxic metabolite. In some cases, the suicide transgene has been placed under the control of pituitary cell type-specific promoters. Also, regulatable adenoviral vector systems are being assessed in gene therapy approaches for experimental pituitary tumors. Although the efficiency and safety of current viral vectors must be improved before clinical use, they remain as highly promising therapeutic tools.

Keywords::

• combined therapy
• gene therapy
• IGF-I gene therapy
• neurosurgery
• pituitary tumors
• proapoptotic genes
• suicide gene therapy
• viral vectors

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Paula Reggiani for assistance with the design of some of the figures.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Some of the studies reviewed here were supported by grants 11/M121 from from the University of La Plata and CICPBA to Gloria M Console, grant R01AG029798–2-A1 from the Fogarty International Center and the National Institute on Aging, NIH to Rodolfo G Goya. Rodolfo G Goya and Gloria M Console are CONICET and CIC-PBA career researchers, respectively. Maria G Castro’s projects are supported by the NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS): 1R21-NS054143; 1UO1-NS052465 and 1RO1-NS057711; The Medallion’s Group Chair and the Board of Governors at CSMC. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.