Category: Treatments
Enlisting the Body’s Immune System to Fight Mesothelioma and Asbestos Disease
Mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung and abdomen, suppresses the normal immune system response designed to ward off disease. Scientists have been trying to understand the mechanics of the immune suppression process to develop more effective therapies for mesothelioma, an aggressive form of cancer.
One promising treatment is immunotherapy that enlists the body’s natural defense system to shrink cancerous tumors. A number of immunotherapies are currently being tested in clinical trials. Mesothelioma is among the cancers that appear to be responsive to immunotherapy, researchers say. But the failure of immunotherapies to stop the growth of malignant mesothelioma tumors suggests that the immune suppression process is complex and involves multiple targets.
In an article published in the journal Immunology and Cell Biology, researchers at Harvard University investigate the roles of three factors affecting the immune response: regulatory T cells, intratumoural transforming growth factor (TGF)-â and the protein cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4, which plays a regulatory role in the immune system.
The researchers say that immunotherapy treatments targeting multiple regulators simultaneously appear to be more effective than focusing on one regulator protein that is suppressing immune response. They report that a triple treatment involving all three immune system factors led to long-term shrinkage of tumors and residual resistance to cancer cells if tumors reappeared.
“These data suggest that clinical application of immunotherapies against tumors may be improved by simultaneously targeting multiple mechanisms of immune suppression,” said lead investigator Haydn T. Kissick in a summary of the research.
Mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos fibers. When a person breathes asbestos dust, the microscopic asbestos fibers can penetrate deep in the lungs and cause inflammation and eventually disease.
Approximately 2,500 to 3,000 people a year in the United States receive a diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma. Many victims of mesothelioma are older workers, retired workers and veterans who were exposed to asbestos decades ago in a workplace. The symptoms of mesothelioma typically take 20 years to 40 years to appear, but the disease is aggressive once it appears.
Symposium To Focus on Lung-Sparing Therapies for Malignant Mesothelioma Patients
Medical doctors and researchers will gather on May 12 in Santa Monica, California for the 2nd Annual International Symposium on Lung-Sparing Therapies for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of the lining of the lung and abdominal cavity caused by asbestos exposure.
Approximately, 2,500 to 3,000 people are diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in the United States each year. The incidence of mesothelioma has increased in recent decades.
The symposium promotes less invasive alternatives to the radical surgery that involves extensive removal of tissue and organs in mesothelioma patients and prolonged recoveries. Dr. Robert Cameron, director of the UCLA Mesothelioma Comprehensive Research Program and an advocate of lung sparing therapies, will lead the symposium.
The radical surgery attempted on some mesothelioma patients is known as extrapleural pneumonectomy. Also known as EPP, extrapleural pneumonectomy is a procedure that involves removal of a lung, the lining of the lung, the diaphragm and the lining around the heart.
Participants at the first symposium last year reviewed the Mesothelioma and Radical Surgery (MARS) trail conducted in Great Britain from 2006 to 2009. The U.K. Mesothelioma and Radical Surgery trial tracked 50 patients—24 who underwent extrapleural pneumonectomy and 26 mesothelioma patients who did not undergo radical surgery. According to the results, 52 percent of the mesothelioma patients who underwent radical surgery lived 12 months, compared to 73 percent of the patients who had treatment that did not involve removal of a lung.
Participants concluded that the study offered no evidence that extrapleural pneumonectomy offered an advantage to patients over less invasive surgery. They said mesothelioma patients should no longer be subjected to debilitating lung-removing surgery.
The symposium is part of an ongoing debate within the medical community about mesothelioma treatment options and the value of radical surgery for mesothelioma patients. Some physicians advocate highly invasive surgeries for mesothelioma patients with less advanced cancer who are healthy enough to withstand the operation. Other doctors say that lung sparing pleurectomy/decortication procedures are effective and less debilitating.
The distinguished faculty will include experts from Houston, San Francisco, New York and as far away as South Africa.
“This symposium brings the best scientific and medical minds together to advance the treatment of mesothelioma,” Dr. Cameron said in a prepared statement. “Research and practice over the past several years have continued to evolve, working to improve cancer outcomes without unnecessarily sacrificing the affected lung. Clearly, it is best for the patient to treat mesothelioma as a chronic illness while preserving the function of both lungs.”
Many workers and veterans who develop mesothelioma were exposed to asbestos dust on the job, though disease symptoms typically take 20 years to 40 years to be diagnosed.
For more information about mesothelioma, click here.
Mesothelioma Patient Celebrates Remission of Asbestos Cancer
Sherrie Moore, a 55-year-old Missouri woman, hopes to live to see her grandchildren grow up. As 2012 begins, Moore is marking more than just the new year. She is celebrating the remission of her mesothelioma for more than a year.
Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of the lining of the lungs and abdomen caused by asbestos exposure. But it can be difficult to detect as Moore’s circuitous path to a diagnosis shows.
Four years ago, Moore, who lives in Carl Junction, Missouri, was experiencing fatigue, an elevated heart rate and eventually pain in her right side that extended into her back. She assumed it was caused by the stress and physical exertion of caring for her husband Ed who had prostrate cancer.
According to an article in Cancerwise published by the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Moore underwent a series of medical tests that revealed a low hemoglobin count. A colonoscopy showed normal results as did a CT scan of her liver and pancreas. The doctor who performed a CT scan thought something looked abnormal about her lungs and referred her to a pulmonologist.
A pulmonary specialist did an x-ray and discovered a small volume of fluid in Moore’s lung and put her on antibiotics. Fluid in the lungs, also called pleural effusions, is one of the common symptoms of mesothelioma reported by many patients. When Moore returned at the urging of the pulmonologist, she had another CT scan that revealed nearly two liters of fluid in her right lung. She underwent an outpatient procedure and biopsy that were inconclusive.
The cancer specialist to whom she was referred recommended an open lung biopsy. The surgeon who performed the procedure in November 2008 found 15 tumors in Moore’s right lung and diagnosed Moore with stage IV mesothelioma.
The doctor recommended that she seek treatment at M.D. Anderson Medical Center in Texas.
With patients with cancer limited to one lung, doctors may remove the cancerous lung and surrounding tissue and perform chemotherapy and radiation. But Moore had mesothelioma in both lungs so she had limited treatment options.
Moore underwent 28 chemotherapy treatments that lasted until December 2010. Before the treatments concluded, there was no active sign of mesothelioma. Moore’s physicican, Dr. Anne Tsao, director of the mesothelioma program at M.D. Anderson, informed Moore that she was the first of her patients to achieve full remission.
Approximately 3,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year. Many are older workers, veterans and retirees who were exposed to asbestos in the workplace decades ago. Typically, mesothelioma symptoms appear 30 years to 50 years after initial exposure to asbestos.
For more information about mesothelioma, click here.
Breakthrough in Using Immune System to Fight Cancer Through Gene Therapy
Researchers have long hoped to use the human immune system to kill malignant cancer cells. A new study in The New England Journal of Medicine suggests scientists at the University of Pennsylvania may have made significant strides in that approach using experimental gene therapy.
William Ludwig, a retired corrections officer from Bridgeton, N.J., volunteered for the experimental cancer treatment, because his chemotherapy had stopped working and he had few options, according to an article in The New York Times. Today, a year after the novel treatment, Ludwig’s chronic leukemia is in complete remission and he is playing golf and working in the yard. The same approach may work with other cancers besides leukemia, doctors say.
As part of the experimental treatment, the doctors removed a billion of Ludwig’s T-cells, white blood cells that fight viruses and malignant cells, and re-engineered them. They exposed the T-cells to a disabled form of the HIV-1 virus, which genetically altered the T-cells. They reprogrammed the T-cells to hone in on Ludwig’s leukemia and to reproduce in large numbers when activated by chemicals produced by malignant cells. They then reintroduced the T-cells into Ludwig’s blood.
Initially, Ludwig suffered flu-like symptoms such as a temperature and chills as the T-cells reproduced. The T-cells multiplied to 1,000 to 10,000 times the number infused, wiped out the cancer, then gradually diminished, leaving a rear guard of T-cells that can proliferate again if they sense more malignant cells. After a few weeks, Ludwig’s flu symptoms disappeared and there was no trace of the leukemia.
The doctors caution that the treatment is still experimental and are not yet claiming that Ludwig is cured. But a similar approach may work for treating other forms of cancer, the doctors say. Dr. Carl June, head of the research team at the University of Pennsylvania, plans to try the treatment approach on solid tumors produced by cancers such as ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer and mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of the lining of the lungs and abdomen closely associated with exposure to asbestos.
Approximately 2,500 to 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year in the United States. Many sufferers are retired workers and veterans who were exposed to asbestos decades ago, even if they didn’t realize it. Symptoms of mesothelioma typically appear 20 to 50 years after exposure, making the diagnosis more difficult.
Targeting Mesothelin To Give Mesothelioma Patients New Therapy Options
An overabundance of the protein mesothelin in a patient’s blood may be a telltale sign of a malignant tumor. Mesothelin is an antibody that is normally produced by cells lining the chest cavity, the abdominal cavity and the lining around the heart. But mesothelin plays a key role in the growth of tumors, studies suggest. The overexpression of mesothelin serves as a marker of various human cancers, including virtually all forms of mesothelioma, a cancer linked to asbestos exposure.
Since mesothelin is found in limited amounts in normal tissue and in overabundance in malignant tissue, researchers have focused on it as a target for cancer immunotherapy.
Researchers have found mesothelin in all mesotheliomas with epithelial cell structures, but not in sarcomatous mesotheliomas. So if they can find ways to get immune system attack cells with mesothelin or knock out the mesothelin, they may be able to starve the mesothelioma tumors.
One of the scientists who has led research on targeting mesothelin is Dr. Raffit Hassan, senior investigator and chief of the solid tumor immunotherapy section in the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Hassan has overseen two successful clinical trials with a third clinical trial about to open on mesothelin.
This month, the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, an advocacy group that funds peer-reviewed research on asbestos-related disease, announced it was presenting its Pioneer Award to Dr. Hassan for his innovative research that offers mesothelioma patients the potential of new treatment options. Dr. Hassan will receive the award at the Meso Foundation’s symposium June 23-25 in Washington, D.C. .
About 2,500 to 3,000 Americans are diagnosed each year with mesothelioma, an incurable cancer. Most have a history of workplace exposure to asbestos, although the symptoms typically take decades to appear.
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