A Step Forward in Treating Pleural Mesothelioma: The Pembrolizumab and Lenvatinib Combination
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A Step Forward in Treating Pleural Mesothelioma: The Pembrolizumab and Lenvatinib Combination

ByHolly Zink

Pleural mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive cancer that has been challenging to treat effectively. However, recent breakthroughs in medical research are shedding new light on potential treatment options. Researchers investigated the potential of a combination therapy involving pembrolizumab and lenvatinib. Their findings were promising, with over 50% of patients experiencing tumor shrinkage. While this marks an important step forward, challenges such as side effects need to be carefully addressed in future research. Uncovering Hope for Pleural Mesothelioma Pleural mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive form of cancer that affects the lining of the lungs. It’s linked to exposure to a harmful substance called asbestos. Asbestos used to be used a lot in construction and other industries. Finding good treatments…

Treatment Combination Used Most for Mesothelioma
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Treatment Combination Used Most for Mesothelioma

ByHolly Zink

Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is being used by doctors to treat malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (MPM) more often. This is the finding of a study published in the Annals of Surgical Oncology. This is promising news because research has shown the CRS-HIPEC can be an effective treatment for patients with MPM. Mesothelioma Caused by Asbestos Exposure MPM is caused by exposure to a toxic material called asbestos. Most doctors believe it is caused from ingestion of asbestos fibers and that microscopic asbestos fibers become embedded in the abdomen. After about 20-50 years, these fibers can cause inflammation and mutations that ultimately caused tumors to form. This cancer occurs in less than 1,000 people in the United States…

New Drug Targeting Fibrosis may Help Mesothelioma Patients
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New Drug Targeting Fibrosis may Help Mesothelioma Patients

ByHolly Zink

Targeting fibrosis has therapeutic benefits in mesothelioma. Most drugs have limited effects in difficult-to-treat cancers such as mesothelioma. Often this is because not enough of the drug can get into the tumor to generate an anti-tumor effect. Fibrosis is a common element of mesothelioma. It causes the area around the cancer to stiffen. Fibrosis acts as a barrier, stopping drugs from getting into the cancer tumor. This limits the immune system’s ability to detect and access the tumor to kill it. A new study is looking at how a family of proteins called lysyl oxidases can help solve this problem. These proteins are associated with fibrosis in many cancers, including mesothelioma. Oncologists targeting fibrosis and this protein family may improve…

Combination Treatment Fights Mesothelioma “Synergistically”
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Combination Treatment Fights Mesothelioma “Synergistically”

ByAlex Strauss

Cancer researchers in Italy are working on a way to use the body’s own cancer-fighting tools to help boost the effectiveness of chemotherapy for mesothelioma. They are concentrating their efforts on a protein called TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand, also known as TRAIL. TRAIL is a cytokine that is produced by most normal tissue cells but causes apoptosis (programmed cell death) in tumor cells. TRAIL is one of the ways the body helps keeps cancers like mesothelioma from gaining a foothold. Recently, doctors at the University of Padua ran a test combining a form of TRAIL made from human cells with standard chemotherapy drugs to help fight malignant pleural mesothelioma. The lab-produced TRAIL, called dulanermin, was administered along with pemetrexed and carboplatin…