Peer review refers to the work done during the screening of submitted manuscripts and funding applications. This process encourages authors to meet the accepted standards of their discipline and reduces the dissemination of irrelevant findings, unwarranted claims, unacceptable interpretations, and personal views. Publications that have not undergone peer review are likely to be regarded with suspicion by academic scholars and professionals.
Cancer and its treatment are an immense burden not only on the individual patient but also on the entire healthcare system. A major limitation of conventional chemotherapies used in cancer treatments today are low therapeutic indices and side effects that result from drug effects on normal tissues (off target). One of the most innovative approaches to developing antineoplastic agents with increased tumor selectivity is the use of suicide gene therapy. Suicide gene therapy involves delivering a gene product in proximity to the targeted cancer tissue through various targeted delivery methods followed by tissue/tumor-specific expression of the gene product which then converts a systemically available pro-drug into an active drug within the tumor locale. In suicide gene therapy, gap junctions allow local diffusion of the active drug resulting in an enhanced effect. In addition, a bystander effect can be mediated through the enhanced immune response as an effect of the resulting cancer necrosis which can sensitize the immune system independently from the expressed suicide gene. Suicide gene therapy is based on the introduction of genes into tumor tissue which ultimately results in cancer cell death. (Rajab K, Nelson P, Keung EZ, Conrad C, Suicide Gene Therapy against Cancer)
Last date updated on September, 2024