Suicide gene therapy has been tested for the treatment of a variety of cancers, including oral cancer. Among the various suicide gene therapy approaches that have been reported, the Herpes Simplex Virus thymidine kinase (HSV-tk)/ganciclovir (GCV) system is one of the most extensively studied systems, holding great promise in cancer therapy. In this chapter, we describe methods to use the HSV-tk/GCV system to achieve antitumor activity, both in cultured oral cancer cells and in orthotopic and subcutaneous murine models of oral squamous cell carcinoma, using ligand-associated lipoplexes for enhancing therapeutic delivery.
Keywords: Antitumor activity; Cationic liposomes; HSV-tk/GCV suicide gene therapy; Lipoplexes; Modulation of gap junctions; Oral carcinoma.