Method of Determining Susceptibility of a Tumor Cell to a Chemotherapeutic Agent: Novel Use of Herpes SImplex Virus

摘要

The present invention provides a method of determining if a tumor cell is susceptible to killing by a chemotherapeutic agent, comprising: (a) providing a tumor cell; (b) infecting said tumor cell with a herpes simplex virus or a herpes simplex virus defective in an immediate early gene selected from the group consisting of ICP27, ICP4, and ICP22; and (c) determining the presence of apoptotic killing of said tumor cell, wherein the presence of apoptotic killing is indicative of susceptibility to said chemotherapeutic agent. Chemotherapeutic agent may include doxorubicin, etoposide, paclitaxel, cisplatin, or 5-fluororuacil. The present invention also provides a herpes simplex virus promoter construct having a lacZ gene to assess tumor resistance to chemotherapeutic agents.