Combined delivery of an antiangiogenic protein (angiostatin) and an immunomodulatory gene (interleukin-12) in the treatment of murine cancer.

We investigated the feasibility of a novel therapeutic approach to treat neoplastic diseases in mice. This novel strategy consists in delivering a protein (angiostatin) with strong antiangiogenic properties, followed by administration of the interleukin 12 gene that is strongly immunomodulatory and has also some antiangiogenic effects. When angiostatin-mediated antiangiogenic therapy was used in combination with intratumor delivery of the IL-12 gene (a strategy much safer than IL-12 protein administration), this produced a synergistic therapeutic effect.