BLOOMFIELD, N.J., April 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Alfacell Corporation today announced that it is hosting a meeting for oncologists participating in the ONCONASE� clinical trial program for malignant mesothelioma (MM) at Lago Maggiore in Stresa, Italy, April 18-19, 2002. More than 50 oncologists and related medical professionals, representing approximately 30 hospitals and clinics in Germany, Italy, Israel and the Czech Republic, are meeting to discuss unresectable MM and its treatment with ONCONASE both as a single agent and in combination with doxorubicin and other drugs. Luciano Mutti M.D., Ph.D, who serves as Study Chairman for the 16 Italian centers participating in the program, will be the keynote speaker at the meeting. Dr. Mutti is Chief of the Medicine and Lab Department of Clinical Oncology, S. Maugeri Foundation of the Institute for Research and Care, Pavia, Italy and is a recognized expert in MM. Dr. Mutti and his collaborator, Brooke Mossiman, Ph.D, Professor of Pathology at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, have been evaluating ONCONASE-containing regimens in MM cell lines derived from patients. These results will be presented at the meeting and will be published shortly. The P16 tumor suppressor and other genes are responsible for controlling the growth of cancer cells. "These tumor suppressor genes are deleted or non- functional in over 80% of MM patients," stated Stanislaw Mikulski, MD, Alfacell's medical director. "We have preclinical evidence that ONCONASE increases the expression of these genes. The stabilization of previously progressive disease or the shrinkage of tumors in patients treated with ONCONASE may be explained by ONCONASE-mediated expression of these vital genes." The dramatic increase of MM cases throughout the European Union (EU) can be considered a health crisis. More than 250,000 individuals are expected to die in Europe from this disease over the next 25 years. "The objectives of this meeting are two-fold," noted Kuslima Shogen, Ph.D, Chief Executive Officer of Alfacell Corporation. "In the advent of obtaining marketing registration for ONCONASE as an orphan drug, the treatment of patients in the EU will expedite the completion of our confirmatory trial and, moreover, will allow EU oncologists to gain first-hand experience with ONCONASE." "I am very excited to be a part of Alfacell's clinical malignant mesothelioma program," commented Dr. Mutti. "Based on our preclinical research, ONCONASE may soon offer new therapeutic options for a disease that has no approved therapy." ONCONASE (ranpirnase) is a ribonuclease anti-cancer drug developed from the eggs of Rana pipiens, the leopard frog. Ribonuclease enzymes degrade RNA and interrupt protein synthesis, resulting in the inhibition of cell growth and the induction of apoptosis (programmed cell death). ONCONASE works by irreparably destroying RNA and this may be one reason why ONCONASE may show activity in some cell lines resistant to chemotherapy.