Gene Kills Prostate Cancer Cells in Animals
Human Trials Next

Baylor College of Medicine researchers are examining the effects of a newly discovered gene found to kill prostate cancer cells and create a long-lasting resistance to related cancer outside the prostate gland.

“This is exactly what we were looking for in a gene,” said Timothy Thompson, Ph.D., Baylor professor of urology, radiology and cell biology. “It is very unusual for a gene to create this type of therapeutic response, and this gene joins a very short list that has this kind of impact.”

Within the next year, Thompson and the Baylor research team will start recruiting patients for a clinical study to test the gene RVTP-1. When injected into animals with prostate cancer, the gene has been found to kill tumors and promote a resistance to future cancers.

“Right now, there really is no effective treatment for prostate cancer once it moves outside the prostate,” Thompson said. “This gene seems to create a signal within the immune system that tells the body it needs to respond to the situation.”

Thompson said this is similar to the way the body’s immune system acts in response to infections.

“We are, in essence, making the cancer appear as a germ to the body’s immune system,” he said.

Additionally, the Baylor researchers have found that the potency of this treatment is intensified when used in tandem with radiation therapy. Thompson, who also is a staff physician at the Houston VA Medical Center, said he believes supplementing radiation therapy with this new gene will greatly enhance men’s chances of survival.

The Baylor Department of Urology research is funded through a Specialized Program of Research Excellence, or SPORE grant, from the National Cancer Institute.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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