1. ¹Department of Urology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
2. ²Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
3. ³Department of Urology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Correspondence: Lily Wu, Department of Urology, University of California, Los Angeles, 675 Charles Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California 90095-1738, USA. E-mail: lwu@mednet.ucla.edu

Received 1 May 2006; Accepted 22 March 2007; Published online 24 April 2007.

Abstract

Treating recurrent prostate cancer poses a great challenge to clinicians. Research efforts in the last decade have shown that adenoviral vector-based gene therapy is a promising approach that could expand the arsenal against prostate cancer. This maturing field is at the stage of being able to translate many preclinical discoveries into clinical practices. At this juncture, it is important to highlight the promising strategies including prostate-targeted gene expression, the use of oncolytic vectors, therapy coupled to reporter gene imaging, and combined treatment modalities. In fact, the early stages of clinical investigation employing combined, multimodal gene therapy focused on loco-regional tumor eradication and showed promising results. Clinicians and scientists should seize the momentum of progress to push forward to improve the therapeutic outcome for the patients.