Current Non-Viral Gene Therapy Strategies for the Treatment of Glioblastoma

ASAD, ANTONELA SOFÍA; CANDIA, ALEJANDRO JAVIER NICOLA; GONZÁLEZ, NAZARENO; ZUCCATO, CAMILA FLORENCIA; SEILICOVICH, ADRIANA; CANDOLFI, MARIANELA

CURRENT MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY.

BENTHAM SCIENCE PUBL LTD

Año: 2021 vol. 28

0929-8673

Background: Glioblastoma constitutes the most frequent and aggressive primary malignant brain tumor in adults. Despite the advances in its treatment, its prognosis remains very poor. Gene therapy has been proposed as a complementary treatment, since it may overcome the problem of the blood-brain barrier for systemic therapies, allowing to target tumor cells and their tumor microenvironment locally, without affecting the normal brain parenchyma. In comparison with viral vectors, non-viral vectors became an attractive tool due to their reduced potential of biosafety risks, lower cost, higher availability and easy storage. Objective: In this article we aimed to outline the current preclinical and clinical developments of non-viral delivery systems for therapeutic transgene delivery in malignant gliomas. Conclusion: Non-viral vectors are efficient tools for gene delivery, since they exhibit reduced non-specific cytotoxicity and can go through several modifications in order to achieve high tumor tropism and the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier to access the tumor mass. However, further evaluations in preclinical models and clinical trials are required in order to translate it into the neuro-oncology clinic.