Brave 49-year-old Woman Shows Response to Gene Therapy, But Tumors Return. New Orleans, LA

Patricia Johnson is a 49 year old woman who was diagnosed with mesothelioma in August of 1998. She lives in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her doctor is Dr. Paul Schwarzenberger, who is the principal investigator of the Gene Therapy Program at the Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans. Click here

In June of 1998, Patricia swelled up with tremendous pain on her left side and experienced severe shortness of breath for no apparent reason. She was not doing anything strenuous, merely sitting on the couch watching television. She was rushed to the emergency room of a local hospital.

Patricia was hospitalized for 28 days. A chest tube was inserted which ran drained continuously for the duration of her hospital stay. During her hospitalization a left pleural biopsy was taken and sent to two independent laboratories for a diagnosis. Finally, in August of 1998, both laboratories confirmed that she had malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Her doctors advised her that the treatment options were sorely limited. Surgery was ruled out. As Patricia understood it, "surgery would not really give the patient any longer to live, just a longer time to recuperate from the surgery". She tried one dose of cisplatin and had a violent reaction. She wanted to participate in the Onconase trial, but was told that because the selection of the participants who actually receive the new drug are randomly selected by a computer, she may end up on cisplatin and adriamycin or doxorubicin. She knew that she could never withstand the violent reactions to chemotherapy, so she declined the chance to participate.

Patricia heard about the gene therapy program at the LSU Medical Center. She contacted Dr. Paul Schwarzenberger and discussed the eligibility criteria. To qualify for the clinical study, Patricia needed to have pleural fluid. She did. Patricia began the clinical study in October of 1998. She was hospitalized for 16 days. A chest tube was inserted to rid the body of any fluid. For four days gene-modified tumor cells (PA-1-STK cells) were induced into her body, followed by the systematic administration of ganciclovir.

Initially, the gene therapy worked well. According to her doctors, the therapy the cancerous pleural fluid and slowed the growth of the tumor cells. Thanks to the gene therapy, she has not had any further accumulations of pleural fluid.

However, Patricia had other medical emergencies. In December of 1998 she developed a left jugular thrombosis and then in February of 1999 a right sub-clavicle thrombosis. Each of these required immediate hospitalization. Patricia saw her physician every two to three weeks. He monitored her closely. Then the tumor started to grow again.

According to Patricia, there was nothing more that could be done. She is on an O2 concentrate and also has portable oxygen. Some days she can do everything by herself, such as dressing and bathing; other days, she lacks the strength to do the things we consider normal. She is now at stage III in her illness. When she becomes short of breath, her blood pressure

shoots up. On her last visit to her physician, he suggested that she consider radiation for palliative care and comfort. She is on three different pain medications and arrangements for hospice care have been made.

Patricia's grandfather worked in two plants where asbestos was used. She lived with her grandparents when she was a child. Her grandfather has asbestosis pulmonary disease.

Patricia had her own nail salon business. She has two sons that help take care of her.

Our thoughts and prayers are with this brave young woman and her courageous family.

Note: LSU's Gene Therapy Program is not funded with research grants and, according to Dr. Schwarzenberger, it has been extremely difficult to attract money for this terrible asbestos related disease. LSU has had to operate on a shoestring budget. We have created the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF) in large part to address the needs of innovative and creative doctors like Dr. Schwarzenberger. MARF, a non profit charitable corporation, will be going public soon.

You can write or call the Gene Therapy Program at LSU at:
Paul Schwarzenberger, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
LSUMC
Hematology/Oncology
1542 Tulane Ave. Suite 604K
New Orleans, LA 70112

Tel. 504--568 6294
Fax. 504--568 3694

** POSTED AUGUST 3, 1999 **