Author: Alex Strauss

Researchers in Japan have taken another important step toward creating a novel therapeutic strategy for malignant pleural mesothelioma, a highly treatment-resistant and deadly form of lung cancer. Following up on research they conducted earlier this year, doctors at Tokushima University’s Institute of Health Biosciences successfully boosted the effectiveness of chemotherapy and prolonged mesothelioma survival in mice by manipulating their RNA. RNA and Malignant Mesothelioma Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a molecule that acts as a messenger, carrying and translating instructions from DNA that control critical cellular processes, from metabolism to replication and cell death (apoptosis). Cancer researchers have found that, by “reprogramming” the RNA using specially designed molecules, they can enhance the effectiveness of certain chemotherapy agents, including pemetrexed (Alimta), the only…