Use of urease and targeting molecule for inhibiting cancer cell growth

摘要

A pharmaceutical composition for the use in inhibiting growth of cancer cells in a mammalian subject comprises: a urease enzyme; and a chemical entity conjugated to the urease enzyme and selected from the group consisting of an anti-tumor antigen antibody, anti-hCG antibody, and a ligand capable of binding specifically to cancer cell surface receptors and being effective to enhance the delivery of the enzyme to cancer cells, when the composition is administered to a subject; and a pharmaceutical carrier. Also described is a gene therapy composition for the use in inhibiting growth of cancer cells in a mammalian subject, comprising a targeting vector effective, when administered to the subject, of selectively transfecting cancer cells, and carried within the vector is a recombinant nucleic acid sequence effective to produce a urease mRNA in transfected cancer cells.