Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine if a combination of recombinant adenovirus 2 p53 (rAd2p53) gene therapy and radiotherapy would have significantly improved outcome from esophageal carcinoma when compared to radiotherapy (RT) alone. Forty-five patients diagnosed with esophageal carcinoma (confirmed squamous cell carcinoma) were randomly assigned to one of two study arms: treatment group: rAd2p53 gene therapy + RT (n = 22); and control group: radiotherapy (n = 23). For the treatment group, rAd2p53 was injected into multiple areas of the lesion once a week for 6 weeks avoiding deep ulcers points. RT was administered after 3 days of injection of rAd2p53. Patients in the control group only received radiotherapy. The overall response rate was significantly higher in the treatment group than in control group (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the complete response rate was 3 times higher in the treatment group than in the control group (P < 0.05). Transient fever and pain at injection site were the only side effects mentioned in the treatment group. In conclusion, this recombinant virus–RT combination is significantly more beneficial in palliation than RT alone, with minor side affects. However, its role as neoadjuvant therapy prior to surgical resection needs to be further investigated.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Drs Lu Yao and Lei Tang for their guidance and support. We also thank Ms Bing for her excellent assistance in patient data analyses. This work was supported in part by Grant from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of China.
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Lu, P., Yang, X., Huang, Y. et al. Antitumor Activity of a Combination of rAd2p53 Adenoviral Gene Therapy and Radiotherapy in Esophageal Carcinoma. Cell Biochem Biophys 59, 147–152 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12013-010-9122-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12013-010-9122-z