• Update - Penn Pursues Testing on Genes:  January 21, 2001

October 6, 1997

Our research is going very well. Our clinical trial is ongoing - we will be treating our 25th patient this week. Gene therapy continues to prove extremely safe and well-tolerated. Our scientific results have been improving as the dose has gradually increased. There was a front page article in the Philadelphia Inquirer last Friday, October 3rd, on our first patient, who is without signs of progression 2 years after treatment (www.phillynews.com). We will be publishing the results of our first 18 patients in the journal Human Gene Therapy in the next couple of months.

The protocol starting at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge is quite similar in concept to ours except that the suicide gene is delivered by irradiated tumor cells, perhaps generating an anti-tumor vaccine-like effect. It is being run by Drs. Jay Kolls and Scott Freeman.

We are also starting a new program in photodynamic therapy (PDT) at Upenn, investigating a new photosensitizer drug. The principal investigators are Drs. Steven Hahn and Joseph Friedberg; I am a co-investigator. Patients will receive intrapleural PDT intraoperatively after surgical debulking. We hope to enroll our first patient next month.

In addition, we are currently studying the use of a new imaging modality, Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning, as a means of early detection of mesothelioma in those at high risk, particularly those patients with asbestos-related pleural thickening. We would be glad to evaluate any clients who may be at high risk for developing meso with this exciting new technique. We will soon be publishing the early findings of our PET studies in mesothelioma.

Please contact me if I can be of service.

Daniel H. Sterman, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Pulmonary and Critical Care Division
Center for Lung Cancer and Related Disorders
University of Pennsylvania Medical Center
833 West Gates Building
3600 Spruce St.
Philadelphia, PA USA 19104
Phone (215) 614-0984
FAX: (215) 349-5172
sterman@mail.med.upenn.edu

** POSTED OCTOBER 6, 1997 **