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CNN Live Today

Genetically Engineered Cold Virus Showing Promise

Aired April 08, 2002 - 11:49   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn to some important health news now regarding the fight against cancer. A genetically engineered cold virus is showing promise. Doctors say unlike chemotherapy, this virus is targeting cancer cells without killing the healthy ones.

Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us with more, finds herself in the Big Apple today.

Elizabeth, good morning.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. Good morning.

This is a really interesting and novel way of approaching fighting tumors. What doctors did is they took 28 patients who had colon cancer that spread to the liver. These people were extremely sick, had end-stage cancer. They gave them this genetically engineered virus. Let's take a look at how this treatment actually works. What doctors did is that they delivered the virus through the artery that supplied the canter cell. So you can see there is this cold virus that gets delivered, and there are cancer cells on the left, and there are healthy cells on the right.

What the cold virus does, you can see it there in the middle. It's been delivered through the arteries, arrives at the canner cells, is it attacks those red, bad cancer cells without attacking the healthy cells. You see those stars in there. And once the virus gets into the cancer cells, it replicates itself over and over again, and the cancer cells don't know what to do with the virus. They are not able to fight it off the way you or I or any other healthy person would be able to fight off the virus.

The virus, in fact, seemed to shrink, or to some extent to melt away the virus, and again, the folks who were supposed to live only six months actually ended up living ford a year.

Now the drug company Onyx, which paid for this study to be done, plans on trying this out in more people to see if they can replicate the findings -- Daryn.

KAGAN: The question that always comes up when you're talking about something that looks promising, and exciting and new, when will it be available more widespread. COHEN: Well, if it works out, and that's of course a big if, because a lot of things that look promising in the beginning don't always end up working out, but if it does end up working out, one of the doctors I talked to involved in this study said maybe five years or so, it will be available to the general public.

KAGAN: And meanwhile, as their doing this study, have any downsides shown up? Do you get a cold?

COHEN: Right, yes, these patients did get a cold. They felt sick. They had fevers. They felt like you did when you have a cold or the flu. And ordinarily, for most people, that's not a problem. However, these are sick people, and so getting a flu-like illness can be devastating to them, and so the researchers say they are moving very slowly.

Because in other research, they have given very high doses, and in fact, one person in fact was killed in a study with a treatment that had some similarities to this treatment. So they are proceeding very slowly, because a cold or a virus can be devastating for someone who is already ill.

KAGAN: A lot of caution ahead.

Elizabeth Cohen, thank you so much.

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