mesothelioma treatments

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    New Drug Combo May Fight Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    A new study finds that the combination of a naturally occurring protein and a drug used to treat multiple myeloma may offer a promising new approach to treating mesothelioma. Malignant pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung lining caused by asbestos exposure, is known to be difficult to treat using standard cancer therapies. The newly-tested combination of TNFalpha-Related Apoptosis Inducing Ligand (TRAIL) and the cancer drug bortezomib appears to kill mesothelioma cells by triggering “robust apoptosis” (programmed cell death). Both compounds have been studied on their own for their cancer-killing properties. The protein TRAIL is a part of the immune system secreted by most normal tissue cells. It triggers apoptosis in tumor cells by binding to what are called ‘death receptors’ in…

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    Drop in Lung Volume Predicts Poor Mesothelioma Outcome

    ByAlex Strauss

    Decreases in lung volume may be an indicator of treatment response for patients with mesothelioma. Researchers in the U.S. and Australia reached that conclusion after studying the cases of 61 patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma and 216 CT scans taken of them during the course of their standard chemotherapy treatment. Lung volume is a measurement of the amount of air the lung processes (inhales, exhales and holds on to) during the course of a normal breath. People with malignant pleural mesothelioma, a cancer that starts on the lining around the lungs, typically experience a drop in lung volume as the pleural tumor grows and constricts or even invades one of their lungs. The new study measured changes in each mesothelioma patient’s…

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    Systemic Chemotherapy Ineffective in Peritoneal Mesothelioma?

    ByAlex Strauss

    Peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare cancer that occurs in the membranous lining of the abdomen. This virulent cancer is caused by exposure to asbestos. Because it is so aggressive, most patients with peritoneal mesothelioma are treated with multiple modalities, or a variety of different treatments, in an effort to attack the cancer from all sides. For patients whose mesothelioma is considered operable, surgery is frequently preceded by a round of preoperative chemotherapy. Also referred to as neoadjuvant chemotherapy, preoperative chemotherapy aims to shrink the tumor as much as possible before cytoreductive surgery. Later, during surgery, the same peritoneal mesothelioma patient may have intraoperative chemotherapy (HIPEC) in which chemotherapy drugs are washed through the body cavity where the cancer was found. The procedure…

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    Better Quality of Life from Lung-Sparing Mesothelioma Surgery

    ByAlex Strauss

    Mesothelioma patients who undergo pleurectomy/decortication (P/D) may enjoy a better quality of life afterward than those who have extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP). That is the message of a new study published in the Asian Cardiovascular and Thoracic Annals. Pleural mesothelioma arises most often in the thin lining that surrounds the lungs. Because of its close proximity to the lungs, it is not uncommon for pleural mesothelioma to eventually spread to the lung itself, reducing its function. Eventually, the diseased mesothelium also thickens and stiffens, preventing the lungs from expanding adequately with each breath. Pleurectomy/decortication and extrapleural pneumonectomy are the two major types of surgical treatments for mesothelioma. There is great disagreement within the medical community as to which one is better for…

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    New Prognostic Tools Could Improve Mesothelioma Treatment

    ByAlex Strauss

    A pair of cancer researchers from Rome say treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma could be improved if more clinicians considered the newest prognostic tools in their treatment planning. Pleural mesothelioma is a malignancy of the membranes that encase the lungs. It is caused by exposure to the mineral asbestos and is highly resistant to conventional cancer therapies. Many mesothelioma patients do not survive longer than 12 months from the onset of their symptoms. But Tommaso Mineo, MD, and Vincenzo Ambrogi, PhD, of the Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery at Policlinico Tor Vergata University say newly discovered biomarkers and other tumor factors could lead to more tailored treatment and, potentially, better outcomes. “Therapy is currently guided by gross tumor characteristics and patient…

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    Challenges and Promises for Mesothelioma Gene Therapy

    ByAlex Strauss

    A new report in the medical journal Cancer Gene Therapy says treatments that are based on genetic manipulation with the aid of modified viruses may be the wave of the future for combatting malignant pleural mesothelioma. The report comes from scientists at the Chiba Cancer Center Research Institute and Chiba University Medical School in Japan, where the incidence of mesothelioma is still increasing. Mesothelioma is an asbestos-linked cancer for which there is currently no standard cure. The Japanese team’s analysis of current global research on gene and virotherapy suggests that treatments that impact a particular genetic abnormality in the DNA of mesothelioma cells may have the greatest impact on the disease. They explain the process this way: “Preclinical studies targeting the…

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    Doctors Test New Intra-Pleural Mesothelioma Drug

    ByAlex Strauss

    Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York have treated the first patient in a new trial that could offer hope to people with malignant mesothelioma and one of its most common complications. The trial is a dose-escalation test of a new drug called GL-ONC1, a genetically modified vaccinia virus produced by the California biopharmaceutical company Genelux Corporation. GL-ONC1 is designed to be both therapeutic – actually treating the cancer – and diagnostic (via green fluorescent proteins) in people with mesothelioma and non-small cell lung cancer who have a buildup of lung fluid called malignant pleural effusion. In the new mesothelioma trial, which is sponsored by Memorial Sloan Kettering in collaboration with Genelux, GL-ONC1 will be administered in a single…

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    Biomarker Test Next Step for New Mesothelioma Drug

    ByAlex Strauss

    A company that makes stem cell-focused treatments for cancer has taken an important step closer to testing a promising new mesothelioma drug. The biopharmaceutical company Verastem, Inc. specializes in agents that destroy cancer by killing cancer stem cells. One of its lead medicines is VS-6063, a focal adhesion kinase inhibitor scheduled to be the subject of a mesothelioma study later this year. In a Phase I safety study of 36 patients conducted by Pfizer (original developers of VS-6063), the drug was “well-tolerated” and showed enough efficacy to warrant further, larger studies. A focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibitor is an agent that regulates the growth and spread of tumor cells by inhibited a crucial signaling pathway. In preclinical cancer models, when this…

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    Pleurodesis for Mesothelioma: Hard to Predict Success

    ByAlex Strauss

    Pleurodesis is a procedure often used to help relieve some of the symptoms of pleural mesothelioma, but there is still no way to predict how effective it will be in any individual patient. That is the conclusion of Australian researchers who performed a retrospective study on 390 mesothelioma patients enrolled in the Western Australian Mesothelioma Registry over 5 years. Just over 42% of those patients underwent pleurodesis. The procedure is used to reduce pleural effusions, the buildup of fluid between the layers of lung lining that can cause shortness of breath, cough, and chest pain. Pleurodesis for mesothelioma can be performed either surgically or chemically. Surgical pleurodesis involves mechanically irritating the parietal pleura, causing it to swell and adhere to the visceral…

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    Mesothelioma Researcher to Be Honored for Service to Society

    ByAlex Strauss

    A researcher whose work led to the development of the only drug approved specifically for the treatment of mesothelioma is being honored by the National Academy of Sciences. The NAS has announced that it will honor Edward C. Taylor, the A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Organic Chemistry Emeritus at Princeton University with the Chemistry in Service to Society award. Taylor’s contributions to a branch of chemistry known as heterocyclic chemistry helped lead to the development of the new-generation antifolate, pemetrexed (brand name Alimta). Pemetrexed is FDA-approved for the treatment of mesothelioma and non-small cell lung cancer but is also in clinical trials for a number of other types of cancer. Pemetrexed was first approved for mesothelioma in February 2004, the first drug…