Urinary Bladder Approach Could Be Used For Vaccinia-Mediated Therapy.(Brief Article)

2001 DEC 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - The results of a Phase I trial indicate urinary bladder cancer and other diseases of the urinary tract could be treated by directly infecting the bladder with vaccinia virus, the same virus used in vaccines for preventing smallpox.

The properties of vaccinia virus make it a good candidate for use in bladder-directed gene therapies, according to Leonard G. Gomella and colleagues, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

"The virus has a high efficiency of infection, replicates in the cytoplasm without chromosomal integration, and can transport a large amount of recombinant DNA," Gomella and coworkers described in the Journal of Urology. "It is an excellent choice as a vector for gene delivery in vivo," they added.

Data from the Phase I trial suggested the virus retained those same properties when administered intravesically, directly into the bladder, in three escalating doses to four patients with invasive cancer prior to their undergoing surgical treatment.

Pathological inspection of bladder tissues removed during surgery revealed an immune response to vaccinia infection was accomplished in three of the four patients given the highest doses of virus. White blood cells and other cells of the immune system were observed in both tumor and normal tissues, according to Gomella and associates. ...