Turning Up the Heat on Mesothelioma
Researchers have discovered that mesothelioma cancer cells release certain proteins in response to heat, which help them survive when they are treated with heat-based chemotherapy. Suppressing the release of these protective proteins might improve the effectiveness of heat-based treatments, according to a recent study in the Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology. Hyperthermal chemotherapy (using heated chemotherapy drugs to kill cancer cells) has been used in mesothelioma patients, but with very little success. In part, the lack of effectiveness is due to the late stage at which mesothelioma is typically diagnosed. It also has to do with protective mechanisms in the cancer cells. When mesothelioma cells are under stress from heat, they produce heat-shock proteins. These proteins both protect cancer cells…