Long-Term Mesothelioma Survival With Immunotherapy Combination
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Long-Term Mesothelioma Survival With Immunotherapy Combination

ByAlex Strauss

An immunotherapy combination of tremelimumab and durvalumab has resulted in long-term survival for some mesothelioma patients in a new follow-up Italian study.  Tremelimumab and durvalumab (Imfinzi) received orphan drug designation from the FDA last year for liver cancer. Now, it looks like this immunotherapy combination could help some people with the rare asbestos cancer, too.  Mesothelioma patients who had the best results in the new study were those with a high number of mutated genes. Mesothelioma is often fatal within a year. But the longest-living patient in the study survived for more than 41 months.  Immunotherapy Combination Blocks Key Proteins White blood cells have the power to help combat mesothelioma. But a protein called CTLA-4 can block that ability. Tremelimumab…

Immunotherapy Drug: More May be Better for Advanced Mesothelioma
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Immunotherapy Drug: More May be Better for Advanced Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

The same team of Italian researchers that first reported on the safety and efficacy of the immunotherapy drug tremelimumab for mesothelioma now say that giving more of the drug might be even more effective. Tremelimumab is a monoclonal antibody that acts on a particular downregulator of the immune system called cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA4). The goal of tremelimumab is to inhibit the immune system tolerance to tumors, which tends to allow them to grow unchecked. When CTLA4 is reactivated with a drug like tremelimumab, it regains its ability to attack tumors. Based on the results of their 2013 study that showed a 31% rate of disease control in patients with unresectable mesothelioma who were given tremelimumab, the team tested…

Immunotherapy Drug May Be Option for Advanced Mesothelioma

Immunotherapy Drug May Be Option for Advanced Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Advanced malignant mesothelioma patients who have not responded to standard chemotherapy may have an alternative in a new drug called tremelimumab. An open-label, single-arm, phase 2 trial of the drug has found it to be safe and tolerable and to have “encouraging clinical activity” in advanced malignant mesothelioma that cannot be surgically removed. Tremelimumab is a monoclonal antibody that acts on a particular downregulator of the immune system called cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA4). The goal of tremelimumab is to inhibit the immune system tolerance to tumors, which tends to allow them to grow unchecked. When CTLA4 is reactivated with a drug like tremelimumab, it regains its ability to attack tumors. The new published study on tremelimumab for mesothelioma was…