Tumor regression after systemic administration of a novel tumor-targeted gene delivery system carrying a therapeutic plasmid DNA.

The possibility of using genes as medicines to treat cancer is limited by the lack of safe and efficacious delivery systems able to deliver therapeutic genes selectively to tumors by intravenous administration. We investigate if the conjugation of the polypropylenimine dendrimer to transferrin, whose receptors are overexpressed on numerous cancers, could result in a selective gene delivery to tumors after intravenous administration, leading to an increased therapeutic efficacy. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the targeting and therapeutic efficacies of a novel transferrin-bearing polypropylenimine dendrimer.