Researchers Learn How Selenite Combats Mesothelioma
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Researchers Learn How Selenite Combats Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Sodium selenite, the most common water-soluble form of selenium, is an antioxidant and redox-modulating compound that can kill mesothelioma cells in cell cultures. Now researchers are discovering why it works. This could potentially lead to new treatments for mesothelioma. Investigators from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden previously discovered that selenite triggers the death of mesothelioma cells, particularly sarcomatoid cells, which are the least common but deadliest form of this cancer. In the current study, which was published in the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research, the investigators aimed to determine the pathways by which selenite kills mesothelioma cells, and why sarcomatoid cells seem to be most sensitive to selenite treatment. “Developing anticancer drugs is difficult,” explains Gustav Nilsonne,…

Turning Up the Heat on Mesothelioma
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Turning Up the Heat on Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

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…

Mesothelioma Gene Test Predicts Survival Odds
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Mesothelioma Gene Test Predicts Survival Odds

ByAlex Strauss

A test that looks at ratios of four genes can accurately predict which mesothelioma patients face the greatest chance of survival, and help pinpoint the best candidates for surgery, according to a study in the May 6 Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Mesothelioma is one of the most challenging cancers to treat. Patients survive an average of just one year after their diagnosis. Surgery can help improve survival somewhat, but it does have risks. Knowing which patients are most likely to benefit from surgery can spare those with a poor outlook from having to undergo an unnecessary and invasive procedure. To predict a patient’s prognosis, doctors typically look at cancer stage (how far it has spread), whether the tumor can…

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…

Diagnosing Mesothelioma
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Diagnosing Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

A panel of just three antibodies is highly sensitive at distinguishing mesothelioma from other cancers, according to a study in the February 2009 issue of Pathology. The authors of the study say that using this type of small antibody panel could help reduce the time and cost associated with diagnosing mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is among the deadliest of cancers; the average patient survives just one year after diagnosis. Making a timely and accurate diagnosis is crucial to help doctors determine a patient’s prognosis, identify the best treatment approach, and get patients compensated in legal claims related to asbestos-related mesothelioma, says Sonja Klebe, MD, PhD, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anatomical Pathology at Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide, Australia. Mesothelioma is often…

Over Forty Clinical Trials for Mesothelioma
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Over Forty Clinical Trials for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma is still a difficult cancer to treat. Today, there are at least 42 active clinical trials for mesothelioma, each trying to demonstrate a better treatment outcome than standard therapies. While there are still trials of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, today the emphasis is on newer therapies that can better target the tumor cells instead of indiscriminately harming cancer and healthy cells alike. These better targeted therapies go by different names depending on the type and include terms like: anti-cytokine, antiangiogenesis, enzyme inhibitor therapy, kinase inhibitor therapy, gene therapy, biological therapy, and immune therapy. As of March 2009 there were at least sixteen trials of these newer therapies plus eight combination regimes of a newer therapy and chemotherapy and another…

Mesothelioma Support Groups
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Mesothelioma Support Groups

ByAlex Strauss

Taking part in a support group can help relieve the stress of the illness for both mesothelioma patients and their families, according to a study in the September 12 issue of the European Journal of Cancer Care. Yet the support needs of this population are not being met, say the authors. “There is little research in mesothelioma generally, but particularly regarding the patient experience of living with the disease,” says Sally Moore, MSC, BSC, RN, lung cancer nurse specialist at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in Surrey, England. “Our care pathways are largely those in place for lung cancer – we haven’t teased out needs that are specific to mesothelioma.” Support is particularly important to mesothelioma patients, who often…

New Mesothelioma Databank
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New Mesothelioma Databank

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma is one of the hardest cancers to treat—and one of the most challenging for researchers to investigate. Now a virtual bank is providing researchers with an invaluable tool for studying this disease, according to a report published in the August 13 issue of BMC Cancer. Researchers are constantly searching for new ways to diagnose mesothelioma earlier, and to find better therapies than the limited options that currently exist. However, because malignant mesothelioma is relatively rare (2,000 to 3,000 cases are diagnosed in the United States each year), it’s often difficult for investigators who are at facilities scattered throughout the country to get the resources they need for their research. To help, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in…

Mesothelioma Diagnosis and Staging

Mesothelioma Diagnosis and Staging

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma is one of the most difficult cancers to treat, but improved diagnostic methods and the right combination of treatments can help extend patients’ lives, according to a report published online August 29 in Current Treatment Options in Oncology. Diagnosing mesothelioma has historically been challenging, because the symptoms can mimic those of other conditions, particularly adenocarcinoma of the lung. Today, immunohistochemical staining and other newer tests are helping doctors more accurately diagnose patients they suspect of having mesothelioma. According to the report, the optimal diagnostic procedure is thoracoscopy, which uses a long, thin tube with a camera attached to view the lungs and take a sample of tissue (biopsy). Computerized tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET) scans can also be…

Mesothelioma and Chemo Results
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Mesothelioma and Chemo Results

ByAlex Strauss

Patients who have already undergone chemotherapy for mesothelioma without success may benefit from a second round of treatment with the chemotherapy drug, vinorelbine, according to a study in the May 15 issue of the journal, Lung Cancer. Mesothelioma has historically been a very difficult cancer to treat. The “gold standard” therapy has been the antifolate chemotherapy drug, pemetrexed, typically combined with the platinum-based drug, cisplatin. Though some patients undergo another round of chemotherapy if their disease continues to progress, there isn’t much research to guide doctors in treating patients who don’t respond to first-line therapy. “Mesothelioma is often rapidly progressive, so patients often sadly don’t reach the second-line setting,” says Justin Stebbing MA, MRCP, MRCPath, PhD, consultant medical oncologist and…