New report describes UK's progress in gene therapy trials 11/4/05. By the Public Health Genetics Unit The Gene Therapy Advisory Committee (GTAC) has published its 11th annual report.

The report [PDF 440KB] gives details on the 11 gene therapy trials GTAC has approved in 2004, together with summaries of completed gene therapy trials and an analysis of 96 trials that have been carried out in the UK.

The new trials focus on cancer, HIV and coronary heart disease. Over 70 per cent of all applications to GTAC are for trials focusing on cancer, including colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, leukaemia and breast cancer.

GTAC acts as the UK national ethics committee for gene therapy trials; no trial can go forward until it has been approved by GTAC as meeting the ethical criteria for research involving human subjects. GTAC also advises the Government on developments in gene therapy research.

The Department of Health is proud of its leading position in Europe in this field, as Health Minister Lord Warner says: "The Government is committed to ensuring that the UK remains at the forefront of innovative medical research and has provided the funding towards new gene therapy clinical trials for inherited diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis and childhood blindness."

GTAC is likely to consider these new trials in 2005 or 2006.

The Department of Health describes gene therapy as involving "the deliberate introduction of genetic material into human cells for therapeutic, preventative or diagnostic purposes". While progress has been slow since the first gene therapy trial was approved in 1993, Professor Norman Nevin, Chairman of GTAC, notes in the report that some trials have shown promise, such as immunotherapy in cancer treatment. "My view is that we are beginning to learn more and more about the circumstances in which gene therapy may ultimately provide an alternative treatment strategy," he says.

Adapted from an article by the Public Health Genetics Unit.