We developed a new approach to the treatment of malignant glioma by intracellular production of human β-interferon (HuIFN-β). In our previous study [Mizuno, M., et al. (1990): Cancer Res., 50, 7826-7829], we could inhibit the growth of cultured glioma cells by transfecting them with the HuIFN-β gene by means of novel liposomes bearing a monoclonal antibody against a glioma-associated surface antigen. To kill the cells, however, some further device was needed. In the present study, we found by in vitro experimentation that production of HuIFN-β in the cells transfected with the gene could be increased by treatment of the cells with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) prior to the transfection and that the cells completely disappeared by 9 days after the transfection. Human glioma subcutaneously transplanted into nude mice could be killed completely if the mice were given TNF-α prior to the gene transfection. Thus the gate to gene therapy for brain tumors has been opened.
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Yoshida et al. (1992) studied this question.