Cell-directed gene therapy is a promising new frontier for the field of targeted cancer therapies. Here we discuss the current pre-clinical and clinical use of cell-mediated enzyme prodrug therapy (EPT) directed against solid tumors and avenues for further development. We also discuss some of the challenges encountered upon translating these therapies to clinical trials. Upon sufficient development, cell-mediated enzyme prodrug therapy has the potential to maximize the distribution of therapeutic enzymes within the tumor environment, localizing conversion of prodrug to active drug at the tumor sites thereby decreasing off-target toxicities. New combinatorial possibilities are also promising. For example, when combined with viral gene-delivery vehicles, this may result in new hybrid vehicles that attain heretofore unmatched levels of therapeutic gene expression within the tumor.

细胞定向基因治疗是靶向癌症治疗领域的有希望的新领域。在这里，我们讨论针对实体瘤和进一步发展途径的细胞介导的酶前药疗法（EPT）的当前临床前和临床应用。我们还将讨论将这些疗法转化为临床试验时遇到的一些挑战。经过充分的发展，细胞介导的酶前药疗法具有使治疗酶在肿瘤环境中的分布最大化的潜力，从而在肿瘤部位将前药转化为活性药物，从而降低了脱靶毒性。新的组合可能性也是有希望的。例如，当与病毒基因传递载体结合使用时，