Ovarian cancer gene therapy strategies

Similar to most human malignancies, ovarian cancer is a result of multiple genetic alterations. Advances in molecular biology, tumor biology, immunology, virology and other branches of science have helped in defining specific genes and molecular pathways altered in ovarian cancer. Therefore correcting these genetic alterations by gene therapy is a rational approach. Ovarian cancer is particularly ideal for a gene therapy approach because of its containment of disease mostly to abdominal cavity and easy access to the peritoneal cavity for the delivery of genes. On this basis, many gene therapy strategies have been endeavored to target these altered genes and pathways for the therapy of ovarian carcinoma. This review provides an overview of existing gene therapy strategies for ovarian carcinoma and attempts to develop strategies for their targeted delivery to ovarian carcinoma to increase the therapeutic index of gene therapy.