The study of cytosine deaminase gene/5-fluorocytosine in tumor gene therapy

Cytosine deaminase (CD) gene is a kind of suicide gene, cytosine deaminase can catalyze the conversion from 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC) into 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), this combination therapy (CDgene/5-FC) were widely used in cancer therapy. The results of many researches in different cancer cells have demonstrated that it can inhibit tumor growth significantly. The mechanism includes 5-FU’s direct killing tumor cells and its bystander effect. It can also be used as a potential purging method for autologous hematopoietic cells transplantion after chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. CD/5-FC combined with other therapies would be an important future research approach.