Combination efficacy of doxorubicin and adenoviral methioninase gene therapy with prodrug selenomethionine.

We have previously demonstrated an enzyme activation prodrug gene therapy strategy using the methionine alpha,gamma-lyase gene (MET) cloned from Pseudomonas putida, in combination with selenomethionine (SeMET) as a prodrug. MET gene transfer via a recombinant adenovirus (Ad-MET) converts the physiologic compound SeMET to highly toxic methylselenol. In this study, we have developed a combination therapy approach using Ad-MET/SeMET gene therapy and doxorubicin (DOX). The combination significantly delayed the growth of H460, an aggressively-growing human lung cancer cell line, in nude mice. H460 cells were injected intra-dermally in nude mice. Tumor-bearing mice were divided into 12 groups [Control (Ctrl), DOX, SeMET, SeMET + DOX, Ad-Ctrl, Ad-Ctrl + SeMET, Ad-Ctrl + DOX, Ad-Ctrl + SeMET + DOX, Ad-MET, Ad-MET + DOX, Ad-MET + SeMET, and Ad-MET + SeMET + DOX]. DOX (2 mg/kg body weight) was given intra-peritoneally twice at 7-day intervals. SeMET (1 microM/mouse) was given by intra-tumor injection everyday, starting the following day after transfection with adenovirus. Tumor growth in the untreated group showed a 10-fold increase in tumor volume after two weeks. In contrast, the increase was only 2.5-fold in the DOX + Ad-MET/SeMET group. The treatment with DOX alone at the low-dose used showed no effect compared to the control group. There was a 5.8-fold increase in tumor volume in mice treated with Ad-MET/SeMET gene therapy alone. The tumor doubling-time was increased to approximately 10 days with the combination therapy of Ad-MET + SeMET + DOX as opposed to 2-3 days in all other treatment groups.