Mesothelioma, a cancer of the membrane that surrounds the lungs, abdomen, heart, and testicles is a very aggressive cancer. It spreads very quickly and when the tumors grow big enough, they crowd out organs and make it hard for people to breath. Mesothelioma sufferers can experience coughing, chest pain, and[…]
Novel Treatments & Drugs
Epigenetics Used to Improve Immunotherapy for Mesothelioma
Researchers are looking into changing mesothelioma cells to make them more susceptible to immunotherapy. Mesothelioma is a hard cancer to treat, so new approaches need to be developed to try to lengthen and improve mesothelioma patients’ lives. Immunotherapy can work well for some, but for others it does very little,[…]
LMB-100 and Ipilumab Combination Being Tested for Pleural and Peritoneal Mesothelioma
The National Cancer Institute just started a study to see if it could make immunotherapy more potent for treating mesothelioma. The study combines a manmade protein that kills cancer cells called LMB-100 and an immunotherapy drug called ipilumab. The problem with current immunotherapy treatments is they do not work well[…]
UCARTMESO CAR-T Cell Therapy Can Help Kill Mesothelioma Cells
A new treatment utilizing CAR-T cell therapy could help prevent mesothelioma cells from protecting themselves. The treatment, called UCARTMESO, is being developed by the French biopharmaceutical company Cellectis. The treatment works by targeting cells that overexpress mesothelin, which is an antigen that prevents cells from sending immune suppressive signals. A[…]
SQAP Used Alongside Radiation to Treat Mesothelioma
A chemical that makes cancer cells more sensitive to radiation could potentially help patients with mesothelioma. Radiotherapy utilizes ionizing radiation to damage the DNA of cancer cells, which affects their ability to reproduce and form tumors. Radiation is not always used for mesothelioma patients because mesothelioma cells can be immune[…]
Researchers Could Target Neuron Cells to Fight Mesothelioma
Researchers have potentially found a new way to treat cancer by targeting nerve cells. Researchers at Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology, conducted the study that is now published in the Science Advances journal. The research targets neurons, which promote tumor growth. The researchers assumed that once tumor nerve cells[…]
Quinacrine Combined with Cisplatin Can Help Fight Mesothelioma Cancer Cells
Mesothelioma patients with a gene mutation could benefit greatly from using an anti-malaria drug called quinacrine. Quinacrine is known by the brand name Atabrine. For a long time, it was the primary anti-malaria drug, but it has been replaced by the preferred chloroquine. Researchers at Penn State found that quinacrine[…]
A Cancer Fighting Gel Can Help Mesothelioma Patients
A cancer fighting gel that is applied directly to tumors could help mesothelioma patients. Researchers in Maryland tested the treatment on animals with mesothelioma tumors. The tumors responded even after one application. The gel could be used alone or could be used while doctors are performing surgery on mesothelioma. It[…]
Ramucirumab and Gemcitabine are Showing Promising Results as a Second Line Treatment for Pleural Mesothelioma
Combining the drug ramucirumab with the chemotherapy drug gemcitabine is showing to be a successful second line treatment for pleural mesothelioma. Ramucirumab is a type of immunotherapy drug called a monoclonal antibody, which targets and restricts proteins that stimulate blood vessel growth in tumors. The Lancet Oncology published the results[…]
HITHOC After Pleurectomy and Decortication Surgery Can Improve Survival
There are some good results coming from a German study looking at Pleurectomy and Decortication surgery (P/D) being combined with HITHOC. Pleurectomy surgery is surgery that removes mesothelioma tumors but leaves the lung intact while HITHOC is a method of adding heated chemotherapy to the pleural area, sparing the rest[…]
