Gene therapy holds great promise for curing cancer by editing the deleterious genes of tumor cells

but the lack of vector systems for efficient delivery of genetic material into specific tumor sites

in vivo

has limited its full therapeutic potential in cancer gene therapy. Over the past two decades

increasing studies have shown that lentiviral vectors (LVs) modified with different glycoproteins from a donating virus

a process referred to as pseudotyping

have altered tropism and display cell-type specificity in transduction

leading to selective tumor cell killing. This feature of LVs together with their ability to enable high efficient gene delivery in dividing and non-dividing mammalian cells

in vivo

make them to be attractive tools in future cancer gene therapy. This review is intended to summarize the status quo of some typical pseudotypings of LVs and their applications in basic anti-cancer studies across many malignancies. The opportunities of translating pseudotyped LVs into clinic use in cancer therapy have also been discussed.