Understanding CAR T-Cell Therapy in Malignant Mesothelioma

Understanding CAR T-Cell Therapy in Malignant Pleural and Peritoneal Mesothelioma

One of the new therapies for mesothelioma is called antigen receptor T-cell therapy. It gives promise to malignant mesothelioma patients. This unique therapy has recently shown that it works in phase I clinical trials. A new report from French scientists details the current state of this therapy. This therapy has only been tested in a highly selected patient population. And it requires highly complex engineering. Yet, the treatment therapy shows promise. Adapting CAR T-Cell Therapy to Mesothelioma Malignant pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma are rare and aggressive cancers. They have had limited treatment options with moderate survival benefits. And all treatments have an impaired quality of life for a very long period. A chemotherapy drug combination known as cisplatin–pemetrexed has been … Continue reading Understanding CAR T-Cell Therapy in Malignant Mesothelioma »

Hope for Mesothelioma? Parasite Triggers Tumor Regression in the Lab

tumor regression

A parasite found in cat feces triggered tumor regression in recent animal studies in China. It is a hopeful sign that the same process might be adapted to help human mesothelioma patients, too.   The parasite is toxoplasma gondii. It is a single-celled parasite that can only replicate inside live host cells. It is typically found in the feces of cats or in soil or water contaminated by their feces.  It is capable of entering most cells in most warm-blooded animals.  The goal of the new Chinese study was to determine whether toxoplasma gondii could modulate immune response in tumors. If it can, it might help immunotherapy drugs cause tumor regression in people with mesothelioma and other hard-to-treat cancers.  How Mesothelioma … Continue reading Hope for Mesothelioma? Parasite Triggers Tumor Regression in the Lab »

Mesothelioma Update: Could New Form of Immunotherapy Help?

new form of immunotherapy

A new form of immunotherapy using a patient’s own cells is making headlines this month after a new study shows it may help some people with advanced lung cancer.  Like pleural mesothelioma, non-small cell lung cancer is a virulent form of cancer that is hard to treat. Even the newest immunotherapy drugs have had only moderate success.  The new form of immunotherapy is the subject of an article in the journal Nature Medicine. It details the hopeful results of patients in a small Phase I pilot trial of the treatment. If it is proven to work for lung cancer, it could be good news for mesothelioma patients, too.  Giving Immune Cells a Boost Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are immune cells. They … Continue reading Mesothelioma Update: Could New Form of Immunotherapy Help? »

Searching for New Mesothelioma Drugs Among African Plants

Doctors in Cameroon and Turkey say two types of African plants deserve more study as potential treatments for malignant mesothelioma and other intractable cancers. The plants, including Elephantopus mollis,, Kalanchoe crenata, and four other medicinal plants, contain compounds that triggered cell death when tested on mesothelioma cells in the laboratory. At present, there is no cure for mesothelioma and no drugs that consistently slow its progression. Even the most powerful anti-cancer drugs in use today typically have only a modest effect on this aggressive asbestos-linked malignancy. Testing Plant Extracts on Mesothelioma Tumor Cells For their new study, scientists at two Cameroonian universities and Anadolu University in Turkey utilized the methanol extracts from the whole Elephantopus mollis plant (EMW), the bark … Continue reading Searching for New Mesothelioma Drugs Among African Plants »

The Key to Mesothelioma Treatment Success with Immunotherapy

Researchers with a biotechnology company that makes antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) for hard-to-treat cancers like malignant mesothelioma say careful patient selection is the key to treatment success. Writing in the journal Advances in Therapy, John Lambert and Charles Morris of Massachusetts-based ImmunoGen call for the development of a “patient selection strategy” so that more mesothelioma patients and those with other cancers can take advantage of the power of ADCs. What is an ADC? Many of the most dangerous side effects of mesothelioma treatment happen because standard systemic chemotherapy attacks both malignant and normal cells. But an antibody-drug conjugate is different. These combination drugs are created by attaching a cancer-fighting agent to an antibody. By using an antibody that is attracted to … Continue reading The Key to Mesothelioma Treatment Success with Immunotherapy »

Compound in Pacific Sea Squirt Kills Mesothelioma Cells

There is new evidence that compounds isolated from a sea squirt found in the waters off of the Indonesian coast may hold the key to fighting mesothelioma and several other malignancies. The potential anticancer and antimicrobial properties are found in polysulfur aromatic alkaloids found in a Pacific sea squirt whose scientific name is Lissoclinum badium. In a new article in the Journal of Natural Products, researchers from Japan’s Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University and Sam Ratulangi University in Indonesia say they’ve discovered how these compounds may kill certain kinds of cancer cells, including pleural mesothelioma. Their research could open the door to formal testing and, eventually, new and more effective mesothelioma treatments and longer survival. Anticancer Properties of Marine Life … Continue reading Compound in Pacific Sea Squirt Kills Mesothelioma Cells »

Attacking Pleural Mesothelioma From the Inside Out

There is new evidence that manipulating the process of protein synthesis inside cancer cells could be the key to improving mesothelioma  outcomes for certain patients. A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Oncology suggests that using a drug to lower the levels of the amino acid arginine can slow the spread of pleural mesothelioma and extend survival in patients who are deficient in a particular enzyme. Overcoming Mesothelioma Treatment Resistance One of the most challenging aspects of malignant mesothelioma is that it is highly resistant to most kinds of cancer treatments. Patients and their doctors are often at a loss as to what to try next when chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation fail. Although not … Continue reading Attacking Pleural Mesothelioma From the Inside Out »

New Drug Combination May Extend Mesothelioma Survival

A drug derived from the eggs of leopard frogs may offer new hope for people with intractable malignant mesothelioma – especially if the drug is administered in combination with a malaria drug called dihydroartemisinin (DHA). A newly-published Chinese report suggests that the combination has anti-tumor effects on non-small cell lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma not seen with conventional cancer drugs. A Winning Drug Combination? Onconase (also known as Ranpirnase) is a cytotoxic enzyme found in the stem cells of leopard frog eggs and early embryos. It has been used in chemotherapy to help treat malignant mesothelioma, a cancer that is highly resistant to standard cancer drugs. Studies have shown that Onconase can help shrink mesothelioma tumors by attaching itself to … Continue reading New Drug Combination May Extend Mesothelioma Survival »

Investigational Mesothelioma Drug to be Tested in Human Patients

Researchers in Japan say they are about to start the first clinical trial of an investigational mesothelioma drug that has shown promise in animals. The drug is a monoclonal antibody called YS110 that targets a protein called CD26. CD26 is believed to play a role in mesothelioma tumor growth and invasion and in the process of cell death known as apoptosis. It is overexpressed in 85 percent of malignant mesothelioma cases. New Hope for Mesothelioma Treatment? While CD26 is overexpressed by mesothelioma cells – particularly epithelial cells, the most common subtype of mesothelioma – scientists at Juntendo University have found that normal mesothelial cells do not express this protein. In previous studies, the same research team showed that YS110 had … Continue reading Investigational Mesothelioma Drug to be Tested in Human Patients »

New Immunotherapy Drug Works Synergistically to Fight Malignant Mesothelioma

The creators of a new kind of cancer drug based on an altered cold virus say it appears to work synergistically with standard chemotherapy to combat malignant pleural mesothelioma. Malignant mesothelioma affects an estimated 2,500 people in the US each year and tens of thousands more around the world. It is caused almost exclusively by exposure to asbestos. Although chemotherapy with pemetrexed (Alimta) and a platinum drug like cisplatin or carboplatin is the primary first-line treatment for mesothelioma, only a small percentage of mesothelioma patients respond to this approach. But researchers with an Oslo, Norway-based company have developed an adenovirus-based drug that may prolong mesothelioma survival by boosting the effectiveness of standard chemotherapy. A New Kind of Cancer Drug ONCOS-102 is made from an altered … Continue reading New Immunotherapy Drug Works Synergistically to Fight Malignant Mesothelioma »

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