Gene Therapy for Head and Neck Cancer: Comparing the Tumor Suppressor Gene p53 and a Cell Cycle Regulator WAF1/CIP1 (p21)

Abstract

Wild-type p53 adenovirus exhibits substantial in vitro and in vivo tumor suppressor activity in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck cell lines. This tumor suppression is not a function of the induced WAF1/CIP1 (p21) transcriptional product. Further studies are required to investigate the potential for induction of apoptosis by gene therapy.