DNA-based interleukin-12 (IL-12) Gene therapy Treatment of metastatic melanoma Treatment of triple-negative breast cancer Treatment of head and neck cancer

The immunoregulatory cytokine IL-12 has exhibited a multitude of antitumoral pathways with immunophysiologic influences on both innate and adaptive immune responses. These observations have led to a great deal of interest in attempting to utilize this agent in anticancer therapeutics. Although systemic administration of IL-12 has provided insufficient therapeutic efficacy and enhanced toxicity profiles, localized intratumoral administration continues to exhibit potentially therapeutic benefits in a variety of cancer cell types. Tavokinogene telseplasmid, an IL-12-encoding DNA plasmid administered intratumorally followed by electroporation techniques, has provided evidence of durable responses with minimal toxicity and potential enhancement of systemic anticancer immunogenicity, warranting a variety of ongoing preclinical and clinical trials.