Oncoselective parvoviral vector-mediated gene therapy of cancer.

We replaced capsid genes by reporter genes and assessed expression in different types of human cancer cells and their normal counterparts, either at the level of whole cell population (CAT ELISA) or at the single cell level [FACS analysis of green fluorescent protein (GFP)]. CAT expression was substantial (up to 10,000 times background) in all infected tumor cells, despite variations according to the cell types. In contrast, no gene expression was detected in similarly infected normal cells (with t he exception of an expression slightly above background in fibroblasts).