Enzyme-activated Prodrug Therapy Enhances Tumor-specific Replication of Adenovirus Vectors.

Adenoviruses (Ads) that selectively replicate in tumor cells have shown promising preliminary results in clinical trials, especially in combination with chemotherapy. Here, we describe a system that combines the antitumor synergy of Ads and chemotherapeutic agents with the benefits of enzyme-activated prodrug therapy. In this system, a functional transgene expression cassette is created by homologous recombination during adenoviral DNA replication.