Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in America. Bronchioalveolar carcinoma (BAC), a subtype of lung cancer, commonly occurs in middle-age women without a history of tobacco smoking. Although some patients with early disease can be successfully treated with surgery, the long-term prognosis for most is poor. Therefore, effective new approaches to treat this disease are desperately needed.

BAC is a unique type of cancer that grows along the airways of the lung without invading deeper tissues. This study will deliver a form of gene therapy specific for BAC by an inhaled aerosol, a method that will reach the abnormal tissue in high concentrations without affecting the rest of the body.

Adenovirus is a virus that can kill the cells that it infects. The goal of this study is to modify viral DNA to create a virus that can only infect BAC cells. The genetically altered virus is “turned on” to proliferate within (and thereby destroy) the cells it infects only if the host cells have both an enzyme associated with surfactant production (which only airway lining cells have) as well as a BAC tumor specific enzyme. Therefore normal cells not having both enzymes will be spared.

This treatment approach is radically different than other modalities such as radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgery. It is delivered to its target by a unique method (aerosol) that takes advantage of the superficial location of BAC cells along the lining of the airways in the lung. The hypotheses of this study will be tested in a mouse model.