Immunotherapeutic and Targeted Approaches to Mesothelioma Treatment
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Immunotherapeutic and Targeted Approaches to Mesothelioma Treatment

ByHolly Zink

Immunotherapeutic and targeted approaches might make mesothelioma more responsive to chemotherapy. Malignant pleural mesothelioma is an aggressive disease. Asbestos exposure has led to globally poor outcomes. While mesothelioma is an uncommon disease, its occurrence is increasing worldwide. Immunotherapy drugs have the potential to make chemotherapy more effective for mesothelioma patients. Researchers theorized immunotherapeutic and targeted approaches might make mesothelioma more responsive to chemotherapy. The latest results in Molecular and Clinical Oncology suggest that they were right. The findings could have implications for people around the world with mesothelioma. First- and Second-Line Treatment Options for Mesothelioma Patients affected by mesothelioma have a very severe prognosis. Mesothelioma develops after three to four decades after initial exposure to asbestos. For years, the main…

Bevacizumab: An Immune Therapy in Mesothelioma Treatment
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Bevacizumab: An Immune Therapy in Mesothelioma Treatment

ByHolly Zink

Bevacizumab, an immune therapy, enhances the immune system to target cancer cells. Historically, chemotherapy drugs were considered the standard treatment. But, a new study highlights bevacizumab, an immune therapy. It can now be considered in combination with mesothelioma treatments where accessible. Chemotherapy has been a popular treatment therapy. Cytotoxic chemotherapy uses anti-cancer (cytotoxic) drugs to destroy cancer cells. It results in a modest improvement in patient survival. But toxicity limits the eligible patient population. Targeted Chemotherapy Agents Immunotherapies are now playing a greater role in the treatment of many cancers. The last decade has presented a paradigm shift. There has been a change in the way we understand the relationship between the immune system and cancer progression. Several targeted agents…

New Immune Therapies May Offer Best Hope for Mesothelioma
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New Immune Therapies May Offer Best Hope for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Immunotherapies, cancer drugs designed to alter the immune system, are emerging as one of the most hopeful methods of treating and perhaps even curing malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is an almost universally fatal cancer of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the abdomen. Conventional cancer therapies, including the chemotherapy regimen that has become the standard-of-care for mesothelioma, have done little to improve survival. Even after decades of research and the development of multi-modal treatments, most mesothelioma patients still die of the disease within a year of diagnosis. But now, the outlook for this deadly cancer may finally be changing thanks to the emerging field of immunotherapy. Immunomodulators target the body’s own anti-tumor responses, effectively “turning them on” by blocking the processes (usually…