A patient's life expectancy at the time of the diagnosis is one to two years. Penn researchers discovered that they could insert a gene into a tumor that made the cancer cells responsive to an antiviral drug that otherwise has no effect. In patients with mesothelioma, doctors use a type of common cold virus called an adenovirus to deliver the gene, in this case a viral thymidine kinase gene, directly to the tumor. The disabled virus was developed and manufactured by collaborators at Penn's Institute for Human Gene Therapy. Kaiser begins by using video thoracoscopic operative techniques and real-time imaging equipment to visually inspect and photograph the pleural surfaces of the patient's lungs and surrounding areas to document the extent and location of tumors.
Biopsies reconfirm the diagnosis and a chest tube is placed in the pleural space.
On the fifth day of hospitalization, repeat videothoracoscopy and biopsies are performed. The tissue obtained is used for a battery of tests to look at the mechanisms involved in the treatment. On the sixth day of hospitalization, patients begin intravenous treatment with ganciclovir. In this way the tumor cells are destroyed, but normal cells remain healthy. In mesothelioma testing with animals, the gene therapy had remarkable results - many animals were cured completely, and in others the size of the tumor was greatly reduced.