mesothelioma treatments

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    Chemoprevention of Mesothelioma: A Neglected Approach?

    ByAlex Strauss

    A group of researchers in Italy is calling for renewed study of a mesothelioma prevention approach they say has been ignored for too long. The method, called chemoprevention, involves using low doses of targeted toxins to seek out and kill cells that have the potential of turning into mesothelioma.  Ideally, these agents are designed to latch onto compounds that are only produced by pre-cancerous cells, minimizing the risk to healthy cells. This idea may be particularly valuable for malignant mesothelioma.  Although the cause – asbestos exposure – is well-known,  there is no way to keep exposed individuals from developing the disease. And because the early symptoms of mesothelioma are typically mild and may mimic other, less serious, conditions, mesothelioma is frequently diagnosed…

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    Mesothelioma ‘Triple Treatment’ May Jump Start Killer Cells

    ByAlex Strauss

    New mesothelioma research from Harvard University suggests that if one type of immunotherapy is effective against mesothelioma, three types might be even more effective. Immunotherapy involves manipulating the immune system to fight disease. Some types of cancer, including mesothelioma, take hold in the body in part by ‘shutting down’ the natural immunotoxins, or cell killers, that would normally attack them. Now, scientists are working with a number of molecules designed to jump start the immune system and help it recognize, target, and even ‘remember’ invading mesothelioma cancer cells. Using a mouse model of mesothelioma, the Harvard researchers investigated the roles of three factors effecting immunity: regulatory T-cells, intratumoural transforming growth factor (TGF)-â and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA4). The researchers…

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    Mesothelioma Surgery Under Fire Again

    ByAlex Strauss

    The group that stirred worldwide debate among medical specialists last year with their stance against a radical mesothelioma surgery is taking up the controversial topic once again. Led by prominent Los Angeles-based mesothelioma doctor Robert Cameron, MD, Director of the UCLA Mesothelioma Comprehensive Research Program, the group includes experts from San Francisco, New York and as far away as South Africa. In addition to an interest in the rare asbestos-linked cancer mesothelioma, these experts share a common dislike for extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP), a major surgical procedure that is still considered by some to be the ‘gold standard’ surgical treatment for this disease. Introduced in the 1940’s and modified over the years, EPP is a mesothelioma surgery that involves removal of…

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    Proton Therapy – “Clear Advantages” in Treating Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    A new study suggests that an up-and-coming type of radiotherapy may do more good – with less damage – than the current gold standard radiation treatments for mesothelioma. Currently, most mesothelioma patients who are treated with radiotherapy receive the conventional electron-based variety. While radiation can sometimes shrink a tumor, one of the major risks is that the ionized particles will also do permanent damage to the healthy tissue around it. This can be particularly challenging in mesothelioma because the tumors tend to be thin, spread across a large area, and are located close to critical organs such as the heart and lungs. Like electron-based radiotherapy, proton-based radiotherapy works by ionizing radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. But in…

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    New Studies Question Radical Mesothelioma Surgery

    ByAlex Strauss

    Calling it “a harmful procedure” a team of Italian surgeons is recommending against a controversial and radical type of surgery for early-stage mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a rare but virulent cancer that starts in the membrane that encases the lungs or other organs. As mesothelioma spreads, it can metastasize into the lungs and other parts of the chest cavity. Extrapleural Pneumonectomy (EPP) is an extensive surgery that involves not only removal of the cancerous pleural lining, but also the lung closest to it, the membranes around other organs, and all or part of the diaphragm. It carries a high risk of complication and death, prompting many of the world’s top mesothelioma experts to reject it completely. In the latest study of…

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    Common Cold Virus – Uncommon Mesothelioma Treatment

    ByAlex Strauss

    Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are fighting malignant mesothelioma with an unexpected tool – the cold virus. The approach fits into a category of treatment known as immunotherapy, which aims to harness the body’s own immune system to find and attack cancer cells. In the current study, Penn Medicine mesothelioma researchers, led by Steven Albelda, MD, and Daniel Sterman, MD, of the Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Division, injected mesothelioma patients with a modified form of the adenovirus – a virus normally associated with the common cold. The virus had been altered to express high levels of an immune system stimulant called Interferon-a, a protein that can boost the body’s ability to fight off viral infection. Nine mesothelioma patients…

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    New Mesothelioma Drug Granted Special FDA Status

    ByAlex Strauss

    The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug status to a medication that may help boost the effectiveness of the standard cisplatin/pemetrexed chemotherapy combination for mesothelioma. CBP501, produced by the Japanese Drug company CanBas, is a novel synthetic peptide that seems to enhance the effectiveness of cisplatin by acting on multiple pathways that govern the lifecycle of cells and the natural repair of DNA damage. By modulating the production of a certain enzyme, it allows mesothelioma cells to become more susceptible to the damaging effects of platinum (cisplatin) build-up. At the same time, it prevents the cells from properly repairing themselves. The drug has also shown the ability to resensitize mesothelioma cells that have become resistant to cisplatin. The FDA’s…

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    ‘Breast Cancer Gene’ May Impact Mesothelioma Treatment

    ByAlex Strauss

    A gene most often associated with breast cancer may also play a vital role in the effectiveness of mesothelioma treatment. BRCA1 has been shown to be closely linked to the risk of breast cancer and a number of other malignancies. But a new study out of Ireland suggests that there may also be a connection between BRCA1 expression and sensitivity to vinorelbine, an antimitotic chemotherapy drug, in mesothelioma tumors. Classified as a plant alkaloid, vinorelbine attacks tumor cells by interfering with their ability to properly divide the chromosomes in their nuclei (mitosis). To test the connection between BRCA1 and vinorelbine sensitivity in mesothelioma, the researchers tested 144 mesothelioma tissue specimens for their level of BRCA1 expression.  They found that 38.9% of…

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    New Study Finds EPP Improves Mesothelioma Quality of Life

    ByAlex Strauss

    New research out of Italy casts another vote in favor of the controversial and radical surgical approach known as extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) for treating mesothelioma. Pleural mesothelioma occurs in the pleural membrane which separated the lungs from other internal organs. As the cancer spreads, it restricts the ability of the lungs to expand. Eventually, pleural mesothelioma can spread into the lungs themselves and other internal membranes. Extrapleural pneumonectomy attempts to prevent metastasis by removing the tissues most likely to be effected, including the lung lining, part of the pericardium (lining around the heart), a portion of the diaphragm, and the diseased lung. Because EPP is so radical and so risky (it carries a 60 percent complication rate), many of the…

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    Modest Increase in Mesothelioma Survival from Chemotherapy

    ByAlex Strauss

    The chemotherapy combination that has become the standard of care for mesothelioma in many parts of the world appears to be making a modest but measurable difference for mesothelioma patients in The Netherlands. Mesothelioma is caused almost exclusively by inhalation or ingestion of asbestos fibers and is notoriously resistant to most conventional treatments. Within the last decade, chemotherapy with cisplatin-antifolate combinations has been shown to improve responses and prolong survival. Based on the successes shown in clinical trials, a trio of research scientists in The Netherlands launched their own population-based study to “assess the impact of this development on clinical practice and survival at a population-based level.” The study focused on 4,731 Dutch patients diagnosed with mesothelioma between 1995 and…