How To Treat Neuroendocrine Tumors

Gene Therapy

Neuroendocrine tumors in some patients may be able to be treated with the use of gene therapy. Proteins in the body are specialized molecules that control the way cells work, and genes are the coded instructions that tell the cells how to produce proteins. Genes control cell division, growth, differentiation, and apoptosis. Malignant cells in neuroendocrine tumors have alterations in their genes that cause them to behave the way they do. Gene therapy is the use of genes to boost a patient's immune response to malignant cells, make other cancer treatments more effective, provide the ability for cells to activate cancer-fighting drugs, help block mechanisms that protect cancerous cells, and alter viruses to infect and kill cancerous cells. In order for gene therapy to work, the genes have to be placed into the patient's neuroendocrine tumor cells or immune system cells. Gene therapy is helpful to treat neuroendocrine tumors that may not respond to other types of treatment because researchers are gaining a better understanding of how these malignant cells are different from healthy cells.