Table 1.
Features of tumor-specific promoters and type of gene used in cancer gene therapy.
| Cancer type | Promoter | Type of gene used | Specificity | Advantages | Disadvantages | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hepatocellular carcinoma | AFP | Increase sensitivity (NIS); Suicide gene HSV1-tk; shRNA against Beclin1 | High activity in liver cancer | Tumor specificity | Weak promoter | (11, 87, 103–108) |
| EA4D (enhanced AFP) | Apoptotic protein tBid | High activity in liver cancer | Stronger than wild type AFP promoter and the same tumor specificity | Useless in other types of tumors | (109) | |
| a2bm (variant AFP) | Oncolytic adenovirus E1A | High activity in liver cancer | Stronger than wild type AFP promoter and the same tumor specificity | Useless in other types of tumors | (11, 106, 110–112) | |
| hTERT | Cytotoxic gene ADI | High activity in a wide variety of tumor cells | Widely used for other tumors | Tumor non-specificity, basal expression in normal cells | (88, 112, 113) | |
| GPC3 | High activity in liver cancer | Tumor specificity, stronger than AFP | Useless in other types of tumors | (86, 114–116) | ||
| Breast Cancer | ErbB2 | Suicide gene HSV1-tk | High activity in breast and prostate cancer | Tumor specificity | Useful in a limited number of tumors | (117–120) |
| MUC1 | Suicide gene HSV1-tk | High activity in breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and cholangiocarcinoma | Higher activity in tumor cells | Basal expression in some normal cells | (121, 122) | |
| LALBA | Adenoviral genes E1A and E1B | High activity in breast cancer | Tumor specificity | Useless in other types of tumors | (123, 124) | |
| Lung cancer | hTERT | Pro-apoptotic protein MP-VSV | High activity in a wide variety of tumor cells | Widely used for other tumors | Tumor non-specificity, basal expression in normal cells | (80) |
| TTF-1 | Tumor suppressor miR-7 | High activity in lung cancer | Tumor specificity | Useless in other types of tumors | (125–128) | |
| hSLPI | Combinations: suicide gene HSV1-tk and IL-12 gene; miRNA targeting EGFR and CASP3 | High activity in lung, breast and ovary cancer | Tumor specificity | Useful in a limited number of tumors | (8, 77, 129–131) | |
| CEA | Suicide gene E and drug PTX | High activity in lung, gastrointestinal, colorectal and breast cancers | Tumor specificity | Useful in a limited number of tumors | (13, 32, 132–134) | |
| Colorectal cancer | CEA | Suicide gene E | High activity in colorectal, gastrointestinal, lung and breast cancers | Tumor specificity | Useful in a limited number of tumors | (135–138) |
| COX-2 | Tumor suppressor 15-PGDH | High activity in colorectal cancer | Tumor specificity | Useless in other types of tumors | (12, 91, 139–142) | |
| A33 | Adenoviral gene E1A | High activity in colorectal, intestinal-type gastric and pancreas cancer | Higher activity in tumor cells | Tumor non-specificity, basal expression in normal cells | (138, 143, 144) | |
| hTERT | Adenoviral gene E1A; combination of suicide gene HSV1-tk and IL-18 gene | High activity in a wide variety of tumor cells | Widely used for other tumors | Tumor non-specificity, basal expression in normal cells | (69, 71, 145, 146) | |
| uPAR | Suicide gene HSV1-tk | High activity in a wide variety of tumor cells | Widely used for other tumors | Specificity in the invasive edge of a tumor | (147–150) | |
| FGF18 | Suicide gene HSV1-tk | High activity in a wide variety of tumor cells | Widely used for other tumors | Tumor non-specificity, basal expression in normal cells | (150–152) | |
| KDR | Combination of suicide genes HSV1-tk and CD | High activity in a wide variety of tumor cells | Widely used for other tumors | Tumor non-specificity, basal expression in normal cells | (138, 153) | |
| Pancreatic Cancer | CCKAR | Pro-apoptotic gene BikDD | High activity in pancreatic cancer | Tumor specificity | Useless in other types of tumors | (154, 155) |
| MUC1 | DTA toxin | High activity in pancreatic cancer, breast cancer and cholangiocarcinoma | Higher activity in tumor cells | Basal expression in some normal cells | (156–158) | |
| hTERT | Oncolytic adenovirus Telomelysin | High activity in a wide variety of tumor cells | Widely used for other tumors | Tumor non-specificity, basal expression in normal cells | (89, 90, 159, 160) | |
| SHIP1 | High activity in pancreatic adenocarcinoma that overexpresses PDX-1 | Stronger than wild type insulin promoters | Tumor non-specificity, basal expression in normal cells | (10, 161) | ||
| Prostate cancer | GRP78 | Suicide gene HSV1-tk | High activity in prostate, gastric, breast, pancreatic, lung and colon cancers | Tumor specificity | Useful in a limited number of tumors | (162–164) |
| hON-522E | Suicide gene HSV1-tk | High activity in prostate cancer and in a wide variety of other tumor cells | Higher activity in tumor cells | Tumor non-specificity, basal expression in normal cells | (165, 166) | |
| PSA | Suicide gene thymidine kinase; apoptotic protein Apoptin | High activity in prostate cancer | Higher activity in tumor cells | Tumor non-specificity, reported expression in normal cells | (167–170) | |
| PSMA | Apoptotic protein Apoptin | High activity in prostate cancer | Higher activity in tumor cells | Tumor non-specificity, reported expression in normal cells | (167, 168, 170) |