Study Defends Use of Radical Surgery for Mesothelioma
| | | | |

Study Defends Use of Radical Surgery for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

A new study says the controversial extrapleural pneumonectomy procedure for mesothelioma can be performed with “acceptable morbidity and mortality”, as long as certain guidelines are followed. Extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) is a large and complex procedure that involves removing a mesothelioma patient’s lung, lung lining, diaphragm and other tissues in an effort stop the spread of mesothelioma. Although some studies have indicated a mesothelioma survival benefit with EPP, the procedure has come under fire because of its high rate of death and complications. But the new EPP study suggests that it can be performed safely. The study evaluated the cases of 251 mesothelioma patients from three high-volume hospitals – University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland, Medical University Vienna in Austria, and Toronto…

Can Statins Enhance Mesothelioma Treatment?

Can Statins Enhance Mesothelioma Treatment?

ByAlex Strauss

The cholesterol-lowering drug simvastatin may boost the cancer-killing power of the mesothelioma drug pemetrexed. That news, released by a team of Korean scientists, comes on the heels of another published study showing that the statin drug atorvastatin did not kill mesothelioma in either mice or humans. Although they are primarily used to lower high cholesterol, statin drugs have been shown to have pro-apoptotic properties, meaning they can trigger the dying process in certain cells. An Australian team that recently tested atorvastatin alone found no effect on mesothelioma. But the newest test of a statin for mesothelioma paired the drug simvastatin with the gold-standard chemotherapy drug pemetrexed with more promising results. “We found that the combination of pemetrexed and simvastatin induced more…

Enzyme Makes Mesothelioma More Aggressive, Less Responsive to Treatment
| | | | | |

Enzyme Makes Mesothelioma More Aggressive, Less Responsive to Treatment

ByAlex Strauss

There’s new evidence that a glycoprotein produced on the surface of some mesothelioma cells could have a major impact on disease progression and treatment outcomes – especially in patients with the biphasic form of the disease. Biphasic mesothelioma accounts for about 20 to 35 percent of mesothelioma cases and is generally considered even more difficult to treat than the more common epithelioid mesothelioma. Now, a team of Italian researchers from the University of Torino say they have discovered one of the factors that may influence the aggressiveness of biphasic mesothelioma. The focus of their new study is a molecule called CD157, an enzyme that has been associated with ovarian cancer. Because the epithelial cells of the ovaries and the cells…

Albumin Levels May Help Predict Mesothelioma Survival
| | | | |

Albumin Levels May Help Predict Mesothelioma Survival

ByAlex Strauss

People with the lowest levels of the blood protein albumin are less likely to live beyond a year with malignant pleural mesothelioma. That is the finding of a team of Chinese researchers who say this abundant protein may offer one of the simplest ways to predict mesothelioma prognosis. Serum albumin is a globular protein whose primary function is to carry steroids, fatty acids and thyroid hormones in the blood. It makes up about 60% of the total mass of protein in blood plasma.  Researchers in the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Shandong University Hospital in China have found that serum albumin levels prior to treatment appear to have a direct bearing on the odds of surviving mesothelioma. The study focused…

Genetic Variables Impact Mesothelioma Treatment Outcomes
| | | | |

Genetic Variables Impact Mesothelioma Treatment Outcomes

ByAlex Strauss

Researchers in Slovenia say they may have found a method for determining which mesothelioma patients are most likely to respond to chemotherapy and which may have toxic side effects. The answers may lie in subtle genetic differences called polymorphisms. Chemotherapy with pemetrexed (Alimta) and a platinum-based drug like cisplatin is the primary first-line treatment for pleural mesothelioma. However, as the authors of the new report point out, there is great inconsistency in patient response to this treatment. The goal of their new study was to determine how polymorphisms impact the way mesothelioma patients respond to pemetrexed treatment. Mesothelioma patients treated with pemetrexed as part of a randomized clinical trial were sorted according to two types of polymorphisms – those of…

Vitamin E Analog Inhibits Blood Vessel Growth in Mesothelioma Cells
| | |

Vitamin E Analog Inhibits Blood Vessel Growth in Mesothelioma Cells

ByAlex Strauss

Scientists say a form of Vitamin E may be able to help fight malignant mesothelioma by limiting the growth of tumor-feeding blood vessels. Researchers with Toyo University’s Graduate School of Life Sciences in Japan recently released a study on the redox-silent tocotrienol (Vitamin E) analog 6-O-carboxypropyl-α-tocotrienol – called T3E – and its impact on mesothelioma. Although previous studies have found T3E to have powerful anti-cancer properties, the goal of the new study was to better understand its mechanism in mesothelioma cells. According to a report in Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin, T3E worked against mesothelioma cells by inhibiting the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a signaling protein that supplies fresh oxygen to cells by stimulating the growth of new…

Overall Survival “Significantly Higher” After Second-Line Chemotherapy
| | | |

Overall Survival “Significantly Higher” After Second-Line Chemotherapy

ByAlex Strauss

Researchers in a country especially prone to mesothelioma say second-line chemotherapy with a drug called gemcitabine can significantly improve survival. Turkey is home to several cities with some of the highest rates of mesothelioma in the world. It is also the site of aggressive mesothelioma research. Doctors in the Department of Medical Oncology at Acibadem Kayseri Hospital in Kayseri, Turkey, have just released their findings on second-line treatment with gemcitabine (Gemzar) and the results contain some encouraging news for patients struggling with malignant pleural mesothelioma. A total of 73 mesothelioma patients from four different Turkish institutions were evaluated based on whether or not they had second-line chemotherapy with gemcitabine, an antimetabolite that prevents cancer cells from making new DNA and…

Red Wine Compound and Leukemia Drug Target Mesothelioma Cells
| | | |

Red Wine Compound and Leukemia Drug Target Mesothelioma Cells

ByAlex Strauss

The Korean researchers who were the first to study the mesothelioma-fighting effects of a chemical in red wine say combining it with a drug normally used to treat leukemia may enhance the effect. Resveratrol is a phenol derived from the skin of red grapes and found in red wine and grape juice. In 2013, researchers at Soonchunhyang University in Cheonan, Korea found that it may help fight mesothelioma by making cancer cells more sensitive to the tumor-fighting effects of chemotherapy. In their latest study, the team combined resveratrol with clofarabine, an antimetabolite marketed under the brand name Clolar and used to treat relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children. The researchers found that, when they exposed mesothelioma cells and healthy cells…

Mesothelioma Drug Side Effect Relieved by Surgery
| | |

Mesothelioma Drug Side Effect Relieved by Surgery

ByAlex Strauss

A team of plastic surgeons in New York have had good luck dealing with one of the bothersome side effects of the mesothelioma drug, Alimta. Alimta (pemetrexed) is considered the gold standard chemotherapy drug for malignant pleural mesothelioma. It is often combined with the platinum-based drug cisplatin as a primary mesothelioma treatment or to help shrink mesothelioma tumors before or after surgery. It is also used to treat non-small cell lung cancer. But, like other powerful chemotherapy drugs, Alimta causes certain side effects, one of which can be swelling of the eyelids. While not life-threatening, eyelid swelling or “edema” can impact quality of life for mesothelioma patients and others on Alimta. But a new article in Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive…

Trial Drug May Boost Mesothelioma Chemotherapy Success
| |

Trial Drug May Boost Mesothelioma Chemotherapy Success

ByAlex Strauss

There’s more evidence that experimental mesothelioma drugs that inhibit focal adhesion kinase (FAK) may have the ability to dramatically improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy for thousands of mesothelioma patients. Verastem, Inc., the developer of the FAK inhibitors VS-6063 and VS-4718, has just published a new paper on the mechanism by which these drugs work in the medical journal Science Translational Medicine. The research describes how FAK inhibitors make certain mesothelioma cells more susceptible to common chemotherapy drugs like Alimta (pemetrexed) and cisplatin. About half of mesothelioma patients are missing a tumor suppressor called merlin, which can be both good and bad news. Unfortunately, cancers that demonstrate merlin loss tend to be particularly aggressive and mesothelioma is known for its aggressiveness….