Dr. Krug on Intra-Pleural Administration of GL-ONC1 in Patients With Malignant Pleural Effusion

Lee M. Krug, MD, associate attending physician, Division of Thoracic Oncology, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses a phase I study examining intra-pleural administration of GL-ONC1 in patients with malignant pleural effusion.

In the dose escalation study, the majority of patients with malignant pleural effusion had malignant pleural mesothelioma, though some did have non—small cell lung cancer or breast cancer, Krug explains. GL-ONC1, an oncolytic virus genetically engineered with the insertion of the RUC-GFP, LacZ, and gUSA genes, is intra-pleurally administered to patients through a pleural catheter. Within a few days, patients undergo a video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery so that a physician can visualize the virus and take biopsy samples to document viral infections in the tumor cells.

Because GL-ONC1 is attenuated and removes several non-essential genes, it does not cause smallpox, Krug adds. Researchers hope the insertion of the virus will infect tumor cells, induce tumor cell lysis, and induce an immune reaction that could potentially contribute to the anti-tumor effect of GL-ONC1.