experimental mesothelioma drug

An experimental enzyme-based therapy for malignant mesothelioma has now moved into the second phase of testing in England. The manufacturer of ADI-PEG 20 says the first patient has been enrolled in the Phase 2 clinical trial of the drug under the direction of scientists at the Centre for Experimental Cancer Medicine, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London. The treatment is based on the idea that certain tumor cells are unable to produce a metabolic enzyme that normal cells already have. Cells need the enzyme, called argininosuccinate synthetase, to produce the amino acid arginine, which is necessary for growth and replication. In a previous study, 63 percent of patients with malignant mesothelioma were found to have little or no…