From: Rafal Smigrodzki (rafal@smigrodzki.org)
Date: Fri May 09 2003 - 11:14:07 MDT
Greg Burch wrote:
> This seems Really Important -- is it?
>
> http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/1899204
>
>
### Targeted tumor-killing viruses have been around for a few years, first
the herpes simplex virus that enabled killing of glioblastoma cells in mice
using gancyclovir, with complete cure, then about two years ago the
adenovirus targeting the tumor based on the retinoblastoma pathway like in
the current report, now we have the additional twist of using surface
determinants on the cancer cells to concentrate the virus better. This is
certainly important research, but I wouldn't break the champagne yet - mice
have been successfully cured of metastatic tumors for more than a decade (I
remember reading about the use of laminin peptides to cure mice of melanoma
about twenty years ago, then the angiostatins story) but so far none of
these resulted in clinical breakthroughs. The glioblastoma patients I helped
take care had survival times from a few months to two-three years, and this
has hardly changed at all since the introduction of radiotherapy and
conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy.
But hope springs eternal, and eventually we will win.
Rafal
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