Research Shows Location Impacts Mesothelioma Therapy in Italy
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Research Shows Location Impacts Mesothelioma Therapy in Italy

ByAlex Strauss

Italian cancer researchers have released new data on how patient location impacts mesothelioma therapy in the country.  Pleural mesothelioma is a rare cancer. Most doctors see very few cases in the course of their careers. This lack of expertise may explain why the preferred treatments vary from one region to the next.  Italy’s Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare led the new research. They analyzed pleural mesothelioma outcomes across the country. The conclusion is that location impacts mesothelioma therapy in Italy because there is not enough sharing of information. Choosing a Mesothelioma Treatment Approach Pleural mesothelioma is challenging to diagnose and even more difficult to treat. Even experienced mesothelioma doctors often struggle to know the best way to approach…

Japanese Doctors Test Potential New Target for Mesothelioma Therapy
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Japanese Doctors Test Potential New Target for Mesothelioma Therapy

ByAlex Strauss

. Mesothelioma is a fast-growing and currently incurable cancer that occurs most often in people who have been exposed to the mineral asbestos. It grows on the linings around the lungs or other organs making surgery and targeted radiotherapy especially difficult. Current chemotherapy drugs typically do not improve survival by more than a few months and researchers around the world continue to search for a way to attack mesothelioma at the cellular level. Now, a new study out of Japan suggests that ganglioside GM2, a surface glycolipid that is overexpressed in a number of cancer types including multiple myeloma, neuroblastoma, and mesothelioma, may offer a way to do that. Glycolipids provide energy and serve as markers for cellular recognition. Oncologists…

NIH Grant May Help Validate Light-Based Therapy for Mesothelioma
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NIH Grant May Help Validate Light-Based Therapy for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

University of Pennsylvania researchers studying a promising mesothelioma treatment that kills cancer cells with light will get the opportunity to take their research to the next level thanks to a significant new grant. Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine has received $8 million from the National Cancer Institute to delve deeper into the effects of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. The team has been researching and using the treatment in patients for several years, but the grant will allow them to conduct a larger clinical trial to further validate their good results. “This trial represents a major step in understanding the combination of treatment modalities that will offer patients the best hope for survival and extended remission,”…

New Agents May Enhance Mesothelioma Therapy
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New Agents May Enhance Mesothelioma Therapy

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma is a deadly cancer of the internal membranes that line the chest and abdomen and encase the heart. Once cancer has started on these membranes, it is extremely difficult to keep it from spreading to nearby organs. Conventional therapies, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, have little effect on mesothelioma. Now, two new studies out of Japan say there may be a way to change that. One study reports on an agent that may improve the cancer-killing power of radiotherapy. The other focused on the use of viruses to enhance the power of standard chemotherapy. For the radiotherapy study, researchers in the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Okyama University examined the impact of manipulating microRNA molecules inside cells. In a previous study,…

Finding May Strengthen New Mesothelioma Therapy
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Finding May Strengthen New Mesothelioma Therapy

ByAlex Strauss

NIH scientists believe they may have found a way to help ensure the effectiveness of a new mesothelioma drug called SS1P. SS1P is currently in clinical trials for malignant pleural mesothelioma, a rare but virulent cancer caused by asbestos inhalation. SS1P works by targeting mesothelin, an antigen expressed on the surface of several types of human cancer cells. In mesothelioma cells, mesothelin is frequently ‘shed’ and ends up in the fluid around the lungs, where it is often used to help make a diagnosis. Unfortunately, this ‘shedding’ reduces the effectiveness of SS1P and other therapies that attempt to use mesothelin to find and target mesothelioma cells with anti-cancer drugs. Like the shed mesothelin, the anti-cancer drugs can simply end up…

Subtype and Stage Affect Mesothelioma Surgery Survival
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Subtype and Stage Affect Mesothelioma Surgery Survival

ByAlex Strauss

Another study of mesothelioma treatments has confirmed that the best candidates for aggressive therapy, including radical surgery, are those patients who are in overall good physical condition and have the epithelial subtype of mesothelioma. The new study followed 40 mesothelioma patients for at least 3 years. The goal was to evaluate what factors had the greatest impact on mesothelioma prognosis.  Each case was analyzed based on epidemiological factors, stage and subtype of mesothelioma, treatment method and complications, and other factors that influence patient survival. Statistics In keeping with the higher rate of mesothelioma in men worldwide, the ratio of men to women in the study was 13 to 1.  The average age of the patients was 55 and more than half of…

Potential Mesothelioma Therapy in a Spice
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Potential Mesothelioma Therapy in a Spice

ByAlex Strauss

The major component in the spice turmeric may help treat drug resistant pleural mesothelioma. Researchers at Wayne State University in Detroit have been studying the effects of the compound, known as curcumin, on mesothelioma cells in the laboratory and in animal subjects. Their research suggests that curcumin has the power to attack mesothelioma from several angles. Pleural mesothelioma is an asbestos-related malignancy of the mesothelial tissue surrounding the lungs. It is aggressive and notoriously difficult to treat. The platinum-based chemotherapy drugs often used as a first-line treatment for mesothelioma may be ineffective if the patient has a strain of the disease that is resistant to them. So far, there is no proven alternative drug therapy for these patients. Now, the…

Photodynamic Therapy – A New Light For Mesothelioma Patients?
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Photodynamic Therapy – A New Light For Mesothelioma Patients?

ByAlex Strauss

A system that uses intense light to destroy cancer cells might be able to enhance current mesothelioma treatments and improve survival. That’s the theory of scientists studying photodynamic light therapy (PDT) and its application for hard-to-treat mesothelioma. During PDT, cells that have been treated with a light sensitizing drug are exposed to a light source on the end of an endoscope. The light has the power to disrupt cellular functions and kill the cells. PDT is being tested as an adjuvant therapy for people who are having mesothelioma surgery. When PDT is delivered intraoperatively, tumor cells can absorb more of the light, while surrounding tissues are unaffected. Advantages of PDT Malignant mesothelioma is highly resistant to conventional therapies. Because PDT…

Mesothelioma and SS1P Therapy – Some Promise
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Mesothelioma and SS1P Therapy – Some Promise

ByAlex Strauss

Delivering a continuous dose of a new immunotoxin therapy, SS1P, is safe and shows some effectiveness against mesothelioma and other mesothelin-positive cancers. However, the drug doesn’t appear to be any more effective when given by continuous infusion than in several intermittent doses, according to a recent study published in the journal, Clinical Cancer Research. Some types of cancer, including mesothelioma, ovarian, and squamous cell cancers, display a protein called mesothelin in larger-than-normal amounts. Researchers are using this unique characteristic to develop new treatments for these cancers. One potential new treatment, called SS1P, is an immunotoxin—an antibody attached to a toxic substance that binds to and kills mesothelin-positive cancer cells like mesothelioma. “SS1P contains an antibody fragment which binds to mesothelin…

Promising New Target for Mesothelioma Therapy
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Promising New Target for Mesothelioma Therapy

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelin, a protein found on the surface of cells, may be a promising new target for treating mesothelioma, as well as several other types of cancers, according to a recent study in the journal, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. This protein might also help doctors diagnose certain cancers. The reason why mesothelin has captured researchers’ attention as a potential therapeutic target has to do with the way it is distributed in the body. In healthy people, mesothelin is only found in small amounts in cells lining the lungs, abdominal cavity, and heart. However, this protein is produced in higher amounts by mesothelioma, ovarian, and pancreatic cancer cells. To attack these cancers, researchers are looking at using specialized antibodies (a type of immune…