|

Revolutionizing Mesothelioma Treatment: The Breakthrough of Cytokine Factories

ByHolly Zink
Revolutionizing Mesothelioma Treatment: The Breakthrough of Cytokine Factories

A study published in August explores an effective new treatment for advanced-stage mesothelioma. Researchers are testing “cytokine factories” for mesothelioma treatment.

Promising Immunotherapy Treatment for Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive type of cancer. Mesothelioma is caused by exposure to a toxic mineral called asbestos. It is hard to diagnose mesothelioma because its symptoms could also be caused by more common diseases. It usually requires many tests to diagnose mesothelioma. The delay in diagnosis also delays treatment.

Conventional treatments for mesothelioma generally consist of chemotherapy, surgery, and sometimes radiation therapy. Of all three, chemotherapy is the most one-size-fits-all approach because only one chemotherapy drug combination is FDA-approved for mesothelioma. Surgery requires the most expertise and there are only a handful of surgeons in the United States who are skilled and experienced with resecting mesothelioma tumors.

A newer type of treatment is called immunotherapy. This treatment uses the patient’s immune system to damage and kill cancer cells. This is the type of treatment explored in this new study published in Clinical Cancer Research.

Cytokine Factories Show Promise in Mesothelioma

Researchers from Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine tested something they call “cytokine factories”, which are tiny drug-producing beads. These beads produce an immunotherapy drug called interleukin-2 (IL-2) and are placed right next to tumors. IL-2 helps white blood cells to communicate with each other. As IL-2 is created by the beads, they encourage white blood cells to attack the tumor.

At this stage in their research, the researchers tested the cytokine factories in mice with great results. After a week of treatment, the tumors in the mice had shrunk and their immune system was stronger. There were also no bad side effects.

Based on these positive results, the researchers will be able to conduct more studies in human patients with mesothelioma. They are especially excited about using this treatment for mesothelioma in the lungs, which can be hard to treat surgically.

Source

Nash AM, Aghlara-Fotovat S, Castillio B, et al. Activation of Adaptive and Innate Immune Cells via Localized IL2 Cytokine Factories Eradicates Mesothelioma Tumors. Clin Cancer Res. 2022;28(23):5121-5135. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-22-1493. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc9713361/

 

Similar Posts

Doctors Describe "Concrete Therapeutic Approach" for Mesothelioma
| |

Doctors Describe "Concrete Therapeutic Approach" for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

A team of medical researchers in Italy have achieved what they are calling “excellent” tumor control and survival results in malignant pleural mesothelioma patients using a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Caused by exposure to asbestos, mesothelioma typically spreads quickly across the lung-encasing membrane called the pleura. There is no known cure but treatments are improving. In the current prospective study, 20 malignant pleural mesothelioma patients underwent radical pleurectomy/decortication followed by high doses of radiation. After surgeons removed as much of the visible mesothelioma tumor and surrounding tissue as possible, patients received 50Gy of radiation to the effected side of their chest, delivered in 25 fractions. Regions of particular concern for mesothelioma regrowth got an extra radiation “boost” to…

Does Radiotherapy Reduce Mesothelioma Pain?
| |

Does Radiotherapy Reduce Mesothelioma Pain?

ByAlex Strauss

A new study says there is not enough evidence to support the use of radiotherapy for the treatment of pain associated with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland reviewed a range of past studies on mesothelioma pain and radiotherapy by searching databases that date back as far as 1974. To be eligible to be included in their review, the study had to focus on malignant pleural mesothelioma and radiotherapy given “with the intent of improving pain”. The study also had to report doses and fractionation of the radiotherapy and how the pain responded. In all, the researchers found eight studies on mesothelioma pain and radiotherapy that met the criteria. Two of the studies were prospective…

Radiotherapy for Mesothelioma: Better But Still Limited
| |

Radiotherapy for Mesothelioma: Better But Still Limited

ByAlex Strauss

A form of highly-targeted radiation therapy for mesothelioma is better than it used to be, but is still risky. That is the message of a recent article on intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. Author Kenneth E. Rosenzweig, MD, a Radiation Oncologist with Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, reviewed recent studies on IMRT and mesothelioma. He concludes that, while the “troubling toxicity” associated with IMRT when it was first introduced has not been entirely eliminated, the fact that clinicians now have more experience with it is making a positive difference for mesothelioma patients. Before targeted therapies like IMRT were available, high-dose radiation was not usually a feasible option for mesothelioma since the irregular shape…

A Second-Line Option for Mesothelioma?
| |

A Second-Line Option for Mesothelioma?

ByAlex Strauss

Although survival was not significantly extended, the chemotherapy drug vinorelbine might be a treatment option for mesothelioma patients whose cancer has returned after first-line chemotherapy with pemetrexed. A new study on vinorelbine as a second-line treatment finds that the drug is “moderately active” in mesothelioma patients who were initially treated with pemetrexed-based chemotherapy. Pemetrexed (Alimta), along with a platinum-based drug like cisplatin, is the primary first-line drug therapy for mesothelioma. But vinorelbine is gaining attention as a possible option for mesothelioma, in part because it is available in a less expensive generic form. In “Vinorelbine in pemetrexed-pretreated patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma”, the Italian authors detail the results of their study on 59 patients with unresectable pleural mesothelioma.  These patients…

Repeat HIPEC Improves Mesothelioma Survival
| |

Repeat HIPEC Improves Mesothelioma Survival

ByAlex Strauss

If one cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC procedure for mesothelioma is good, subsequent treatments may be even better. That is the central message of research conducted at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida. The study’s aim was to assess overall survival among peritoneal mesothelioma patients who had not just one, but two or more rounds of heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) after cytoreductive surgery. The cytoreduction/HIPEC approach has become popular for peritoneal mesothelioma, a treatment-resistant cancer of abdominal membranes caused by asbestos. Cytoreductive surgery involves removing as much of the mesothelioma tumor as possible from the abdomen. Because the shape and spreading pattern of mesothelioma tumors make complete cytoreduction difficult, the surgery is often followed by a rinse with a heated solution…

Value of Mesothelioma Surgery Challenged for Healthy Patients
| |

Value of Mesothelioma Surgery Challenged for Healthy Patients

ByAlex Strauss

New research conducted in Italy and presented at the 15th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Sydney, Australia suggests that mesothelioma surgery – no matter what kind – may not offer a survival advantage over medical management for the healthiest of patients. Mesothelioma is a rare but aggressive malignancy that is highly resistant to standard cancer treatments. The two types of mesothelioma surgery considered to be options for people with resectable cancer are pleurectomy decortication (P/D) or extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP). While EPP is more radical than P/D because it involves removing a lung, both carry a heavy risk of complications and, according to the Italian researchers, may not be of value for certain patients. The study reviewed data from 1,365…