COLLEGEVILLE, Penn--A patient with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer has become the first to receive an injection of a p53/retrovirus gene therapy into existing tumor cells, Introgen Therapeutics, Inc. and RPR Gencell, a division of Rhône-Poulenc Rorer, have announced.
The phase I study is being conducted by Jack A. Roth, MD, at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where he is chairman of the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.
The retrovirus vector delivers normal p53 genes into cancer cells in an attempt to restore normal cellular control. The patient received the dose into the tumor bed after surgical excision and will be given four more doses.
