Our objective was to determine the efficacy of adenoviral-mediated gene therapy with wild-type p53 or p21 in human breast cancer cells and investigate interactions with radiation and chemotherapy. Two human breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-435, both with p53 mutations, were transduced with adenoviral vectors containing wild-type p53 (Ad5CMV-p53) or p21/WAF1/Cip1 (Ad5CMV-p21), and the effects on growth were determined. Infection was combined with low-dose (1.4 - 3.7 Gy) irradiation to see if this would improve transduction efficiency and enhance numbers of cells killed. Transduction with either vector resulted in expression of p21WAF1/cip1 and growth inhibition, although Ad5CMV-p53 transduction produced greater growth inhibition than did Ad5CMV-p21. The cell lines differed in sensitivity to the vectors. The Ad5CMV-p53 vector in a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 125 resulted in 50% to 80% inhibition of MDA-MB-231, while MOI 250 of the same vector resulted in 27% inhibition of MDA-MB-435. Infection with Ad5CMV-p21 produced modest growth inhibition in both cell lines (< or = 40% at MOI 200), although protein expression was detected at lower viral doses. Low dose gamma-irradiation (1.4 to 3.7 Gy) was used to try and improve the rate of gene transfer. Modest increases in transduction efficiency and duration of expression of a vector containing beta-galactosidase occurred in irradiated breast cancer cells. Radiation 24 hr before transduction with Ad5CMV-p53 increased the proportions of apoptotic MDA-MB-231 cells. The cells transduced with Ad5CMV-p21 were arrested in G1, yet when they were irradiated before adenoviral transduction, the overexpression of p21 protected the cells from the cytotoxic effects of the radiation. Clonogenic assays showed that Ad5CMV-p21 reduced the sensitivity of MDA-MB-231 to VP-16 and paclitaxel. Combining these drugs with Ad5CMV-p53 did not consistently or significantly decrease clonogenic survival.