-- Research Subject of Press Conference at 89th Annual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference --
New Orleans, LA, March 30, 1998 - Targeted Genetics Corporation (Nasdaq: TGEN) today announced Phase I results of its E1A gene therapy for the treatment of breast and ovarian cancers at a press conference at the 89th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Targeted Genetics research was selected as one of approximately 40 from a field of over 4500 abstracts to be highlighted by the AACR.
In a presentation titled "Phase I E1A gene therapy in patients with advanced breast and ovarian cancers," researchers demonstrated that they delivered and expressed an E1A gene in both diseased and normal human cells using a proprietary non-viral liposomal delivery mechanism. E1A is a tumor inhibitor gene. Previous laboratory and animal studies have demonstrated E1A's ability to suppress metastases, induce apoptosis (programmed cell death) and reverse the overexpression of HER-2/neu, a cancer-causing gene. In patients with cancer, overexpression of the HER-2/neu oncogene is correlated with poor prognoses, increased tumor formation and metastasis and resistance to chemotherapeutic agents.
Naoto T. Ueno, M.D., Instructor, Gabriel N. Hortobagyi, M.D., Chairperson of the Department of Breast Medical Oncology, and Mien-Chie Hung, Ph.D., Deputy Chairman of the Department of Tumor Biology and Director of the Breast Cancer Basic Research Program, all of the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX, along with colleagues at Targeted Genetics and the University of Pittsburgh, conducted the research presented at AACR.
"This study is significant because we have demonstrated that we can deliver the
E1A gene to human cancer cells and see a subsequent biological effect," said
Naoto T. Ueno, M.D. "Although these results are preliminary, we believe that
overexpression of
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Contact: Amy Flood
a.flood@noonanrusso.com
212-696-4455, x. 211
Noonan/Russo Communications
30-Mar-1998