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EARLY PROMISE FOR NEW TREATMENT OF SKIN CANCER (p 525)
February 14, 2001A preliminary study published as a research letter in this week's issue of THE LANCET suggests that the herpes virus could contribute to the treatment of malignant melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer.
Previous laboratory research has shown that a mutant herpes simplex virus (HSV1716) has improved the survival times of animals with tumours. In humans, the virus replicates preferentially in melanoma cell tissue, causing cell death. To assess the therapeutic potential of HSV1716 in human disease, Professor Rona MacKie and colleagues from the University of Glasgow, UK, did a study of toxicity and possible efficacy in five patients with metastatic melanoma (skin cancer that had spread to other parts of the body).
All five patients had advanced metastatic melanoma, and had soft-tissue nodules that were accessible to direct intratumoral injection. For each patient, a test nodule was injected with HSV1716, and a second nodule was injected with 1 mL sterile saline as a control. The first two patients had the injected nodules removed 14 days after injection for examination; patients 3, 4, and 5, had a second injection of HSV1716 on day 14 and the nodule removed on day 21; the fifth patient had a second set of two injections of HSV 2 weeks apart injected into a different nodule 8 weeks after the first series of injections (four injections in total).
Examination of the removed nodules showed dead melanoma cells in three of the virus-injected removed nodules from the three patients who had two injections on days 1 and 14 and removal on day 21. The nodule from patient 5 showed the most striking tumour cell death.
Professor MacKie comments: "This pilot study shows that HSV1716 replicates in melanoma cells, causes tumour-cell death if in direct contact with the melanoma cells, and is not toxic. The results are sufficiently encouraging to continue with higher doses of HSV1716 in patients with metastatic melanoma".
Contact: Professor Rona MacKie, Department of Dermatology, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK; T) +44 (0)141 330 4018; F) +44 (0)141 330 4008; E) R.M.MacKie@clinmed.gla.ac.uk
Lancet
Examination of the removed nodules showed dead melanoma cells in three of the virus-injected removed nodules from the three patients who had two injections on days 1 and 14 and removal on day 21. The nodule from patient 5 showed the most striking tumour cell death.
Professor MacKie comments: "This pilot study shows that HSV1716 replicates in melanoma cells, causes tumour-cell death if in direct contact with the melanoma cells, and is not toxic. The results are sufficiently encouraging to continue with higher doses of HSV1716 in patients with metastatic melanoma".
Contact: Professor Rona MacKie, Department of Dermatology, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK; T) +44 (0)141 330 4018; F) +44 (0)141 330 4008; E) R.M.MacKie@clinmed.gla.ac.uk
Lancet
Melanoma Current Events and Melanoma News RSSLaser therapy can aggravate skin cancer
High irradiances of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) should not be used over melanomas.
Quarter of a million children in England at risk of skin cancer from sunbeds
An estimated quarter of a million 11-17 year olds in England are being put at increased risk of developing malignant melanoma by using sunbeds, warn researchers in a letter to this week's BMJ.
Hundreds of genes distinguish patients likely to survive advanced melanoma
Although the chances of surviving advanced melanoma aren't very good with current therapies, some patients can live for years with cancer that has spread beyond the skin to other organs.
New Notre Dame study provides insights into the molecular basis of tumor cell behavior
A new study by a team of researchers led by Crislyn D'Souza-Schorey, associate professor of biological sciences at the University of Notre Dame, sheds light on the molecular basis by which tumor cells modulate their surroundings to favor cancer progression.
Switching immunosuppressants reduces cancer risk in kidney
Switching to a newer type of immunosuppressant drug may reduce the high rate of skin cancer after kidney transplantation, according to research being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San Diego, CA.
Cancer survivors may not be getting the help they need to stop smoking
More than a quarter of cancer survivors who still smoke have not been advised to quit smoking by their health care providers in the last year, according to a study published by researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center in the current issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Melanoma treatment options 1 step closer
A targeted chemotherapy for the treatment of skin cancer is one step closer, after a team of University of Alberta researchers successfully synthesized a natural substance that shows exceptional potential to specifically treat this often fatal disease.
Resident physicians seldom trained in skin cancer examination
Many resident physicians are not trained in skin cancer examinations, nor have they ever observed or practiced the procedure.
New findings on the formation of body pigment
The skin's pigment cells can be formed from completely different cells than has hitherto been thought, a new study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet shows. The results, which are published in the journal Cell, also mean the discovery of a new kind of stem cell.
Studying cancer in pet dogs to find new treatments for human patients
A team of scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, USA, says that studying pet dogs with cancer could yield valuable information on how to diagnose and treat human cancers.
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