"In situ vaccination" using immuno-gene therapy has the ability to induce polyclonal anti-tumor responses directed by the patient's immune system. Patients with unresectable MPM received two intrapleural doses of a replication-defective adenoviral vector containing the human interferon-alpha (hIFN-a2b) gene (Ad.IFN) concomitant with a 14-day course of a cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor (celecoxib), followed by standard first- or second-line cytotoxic chemotherapy. Forty subjects, ECOG PS 0 or 1, were treated: 18 received first-line pemetrexed- based chemotherapy with platinum, 22 received second-line chemotherapy with pemetrexed (n=7) or a gemcitabine-based regimen (n=15). Overall survival rate was significantly higher than historical controls in the second-line group.
