NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, gene therapy can be safely delivered via computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous intratumoral injections, according to a new study.
Dr. Robert D. Suh and colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center in Los Angeles, California treated 29 outpatients with up to 3 cycles of 6 weekly injections of interleukin-2 plasmid DNA.
Thirty lesions at a variety of deep and superficial sites - 15 thoracic and 15 abdominal -were treated. After the first cycle, patients whose tumors either remained stable or shrunk by at least 50% advanced to the second cycle. Patients whose tumors shrunk by at least 50% after the second cycle then advanced to cycle 3. In all cases, CT was used to guide needle placement and percutaneous injection.
According to the researchers’ report, which appears in the May issue of Radiology, 284 injections were given, with an average of 9.8 injections per patient. “Technical success...was achieved in all cases,” the authors write.
Complications developed after 42 injections. The most common complication, pneumothorax, developed after 32 of the 112 intrathoracic injections. Only one patient required catheter drainage. There were no “serious adverse events or unacceptable toxicities,” the researchers said.
“We have demonstrated that multiple CT-guided percutaneous intratumoral immunotherapeutic injections can be delivered at a wide variety of tumor sites with excellent technical success and minimal risk of complications,” the investigators conclude.
Phase II trials to determine response to therapy are in progress, they add.
Source: Radiology 2004;231:359-364. [ Google search on this article ]
MeSH Headings:Biological Therapy: Genetic Engineering: Genetic Techniques: Investigative Techniques: Therapeutics: Gene Therapy: Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and EquipmentCopyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
