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DNA instead of drugs Doctors search for cures for heart disease, cancer and other illnesses in the human genome.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Susan Stevens Daily Herald Health Writer

As his cardiologist snaked a catheter up inside his heart, Joseph DePretto figured he had nothing to lose.

Doctors had already performed two bypass surgeries and a balloon angioplasty, implanted a pacemaker/defibrillator and prescribed a host of drugs.

But DePretto's arteries stubbornly refused to remain open, and he suffered severe fatigue and shortness of breath as a result. So on this day, DePretto, 64, of Bensenville, pinned his hopes on an experimental treatment that aims to trigger the heart to heal itself.

"You're gambling, but I think it's worth the chance," DePretto said. "I don't want to go in for another bypass, which I think at my age would be too risky."

The treatment involves injecting the heart with pieces of DNA that trigger new blood vessels to grow, increasing blood flow and oxygen to the heart. The procedure is still experimental, and doctors aren't sure whether patients like DePretto will see any improvement in symptoms.

Yet, cardiologists nationwide are eagerly following the trial of the "growth factor" gene called VEGF-2. Gene therapy is cutting edge research in heart disease, partly because doctors have run out of other cures. Half the 500,000 bypasses performed each year eventually fail because the arteries plug up again with fatty plaque after surgery.

"In cardiology, we're kind of running up against a wall," said Dr. Louis McKeever...