New perspectives for gene therapy in endocrinology

Abstract Gene therapy for endocrine diseases represents an exciting new type of molecular intervention that may be a curative one. Endocrine disorders that might be treated by gene therapy include monogenic diseases, such as GH deficiency and hypothalamic diabetes insipidus, and multifactorial diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, obesity and cancer. Premises seem promising for endocrine tumours, but many combined approaches of cell and gene therapy are foreseeable also for other endocrine disorders. This review outlines the principles of gene therapy, describes the endocrine disorders that might take advantage of gene transfer approaches, as well as the gene therapy interventions that have already been attempted, their major limitations and the problems that remain to be solved.