Press releases

Released June 3, 1996
Yale-New Haven Hospital news release

Yale-New Haven Uses "Smart Bomb"
Against Cancer Cells

For more information, contact Ken Best: (203) 688-2493 or E-mail.

Yale-New Haven Hospital is one of 23 medical centers around the country participating in clinical trials of a new, highly specific cancer weapon capable of targeting certain cancer-causing cells.

The Interleukin-2 (IL-2) Fusion Toxin is described as the "smart bomb" against certain kinds of cancer cells, according to Dr. Peter Heald, a dermatologist at Yale-New Haven who is also associate professor of dermatology at Yale University School of Medicine and coordinator of the Connecticut study.

IL-2 Fusion Toxin is an artificial protein which is created by the fusion of two genes, one a diphtheria toxin and another, IL-2, that is produced naturally by the body. "It's part of the new wave of cancer drugs. It is a genetically engineered protein designed to be taken up only by cancer cells. The new toxin protein is released inside these cells," Dr. Heald said, noting that one of the important new elements of the drug is that it only attacks the cancer cells, leaving healthy cells alone.

The drug will be tested on a group of patients suffering from cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, a malignant cancer of the lymph system that initially causes disfiguring scale-like lesions, tumors or rashes on the skin. Between 5,000 and 10,000 people in the U.S. suffer from cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, with 500 to 1,000 new cases diagnosed each year.

The first four patients participating in the study at Yale-New Haven--three Connecticut residents and one from Rhode Island--have shown encouraging results, according to Dr. Heald. Candidates for the study must be screened for eligibility requirements. Patients receive the drug once each day for five days, every three weeks on an outpatient basis.

Yale-New Haven Hospital has been using photopheresis to treat cutaneous T-cell lymphoma since 1987. Photopheresis involves the treatment of circulating blood cells with light and drugs that are activated by ultraviolet light.

For more information about the study, contact the Department of Dermatology at Yale-New Haven Hospital, (203) 785-6445.

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