Phase I Trial For NSCLC Gene Therapy

Introgen Therapeutics and R-PR Gencell, a division of Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, have initiated a Phase I trial of a p53/retrovirus gene therapy in a patient with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

The patient had accessible tumor mass removed and then had the p53 genes injected into the remaining cancer tissue. The patient will receive additional doses of the genes for four consecutive days following the initial dose.

"Preclinical work in animals has shown that when normal p53 genes are put back into cancer cells, the growth of cancer cells is suppressed," said Jack Roth, chairman of the department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. He added that in this "Phase I study, the p53 gene has been packaged in particles with retroviral components essential for getting the p53 gene into the cancer cells."