Evolving Mesothelioma Treatments
Mesothelioma is a fatal cancer caused by asbestos. Several types of the disease impact different types of the body. Mesothelioma is a cancer that isn’t cured, but treatment can extend a person’s lifespan and improve their quality of life, though treatment can take a toll too.
What is Mesothelioma?
Mesothelioma is a disease that causes tumors in the mesothelium, a tissue that lines the cavities that protect and surround certain organs. This tissue forms:
- The pleura, which is around your lungs.
- The peritoneum surrounds organs in your abdomen and pelvic area
- The pericardia that covers your heart
Mesothelioma is considered rare, with about 3,000 to 4,000 new cases in the US annually. About 2,500 of them are malignant pleural mesothelioma. Mesothelioma cases in men outnumber those of women by about a three-to-one margin, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
How is Mesothelioma Treated?
Treatment depends on how the disease presents in the person, their overall health, and the patient’s goals. Standard treatment of pleural mesothelioma is often based on surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, according to an article in the International Journal of Molecular Science. The chemotherapy combination of pemetrexed and cisplatin became standard treatment in 2004. A combination of ipilimumab and nivolumab was approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration in 2020.
The use of three treatment methods was introduced in the 1990s. The median length of survival after this approach is 20 to 29 months. The surgery involves the removal of the pleura, or if the person is in the early stages of the disease, removing the diseased lung, parts of the pericardium, the diaphragm (the muscle between the abdomen and lungs), and the parietal pleura (the membrane lining the chest).
Surgery is only an option in early disease stages. Advanced disease is normally chemotherapy and supportive care, though immunotherapy (medications that boost your immune response) is also being used.
Advances in Immunotherapy
Our immune system must balance being active enough to destroy harmful elements like tumors, mutated cells, and bacteria while not being so active it acts against healthy tissue.
To prevent an overactive immune system, there are “checkpoints” or proteins on immune cells that must be turned on or off to begin an immune response, according to the American Cancer Society. Cancer cells, including mesothelioma cells, sometimes use this checkpoint system to trick immune cells into not attacking it.
Immunotherapy’s goal is to unleash the immune system on tumors without injuring healthy, functioning parts of the body.
It’s a promising treatment, but there’s a lack of data showing how it impacts overall survival. It’s an important type of cancer treatment that’s often used along with chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. Immunotherapy has been revolutionary in treating lung cancer and melanoma, where other treatment options are limited. It can be used as an initial treatment or after the first round of treatment fails.
The overall immunotherapy response rate in trials with mesothelioma patients was around 20% to 30%. There are possibly severe side effects of its use, including lung inflammation. Research has shifted to using these drugs to help overcome tumors’ resistance to the immune system’s response to destroy the cancer.
1. Anti-Cancer Vaccines
Immunotherapy can involve the use of vaccines to fight mesothelioma by triggering the body’s immune system. They use a virus to target the tumors. There may also be a “payload” of chemotherapy drugs, and research has found that radiation treatment might be more effective in killing cancer cells when used with an anti-cancer vaccine.\
2. CAR-T Therapy
Another immunotherapy tool is the use of an immune system cell, the chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T). CAR-T cells are genetically engineered to recognize cancer cells or a particular molecule on them. When used to treat mesothelioma and other solid tumor cancers, CAR-T cells target the protein mesothelin.
Published studies on medical trials of CAR-T cell therapy for treating mesothelioma show it is safe for patients, but its effectiveness is unknown.
3. Gene and Genetic Therapy
A gene is the basic functional and physical unit of heredity, according to the National Library of Medicine. Genes are made up of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). In each cell, the DNA molecule is in thread-like structures called chromosomes.
Some genes are instructions for making proteins, while others are not. Human genes vary in size from a few hundred DNA bases to more than two million. It’s estimated we have between 20,000 and 25,000 genes.
Gene therapy (changing genes) has been investigated on mesothelioma cells and animal models. If chromosomes are rearranged, they can create unique gene connections that can be expressed and potentially result in the creation of several proteins. These proteins can be in tumors and may result in the immune system’s improved ability to destroy the tumors with the help of anti-cancer vaccines.
There is much research on mesothelioma, but the problem is it progresses slower than cancer cells. Those treated now reap the benefit of past research, while future mesothelioma victims should see improvements due to the work being done today.
Call Us Today For A Free Consultation
We are your boots on the ground if you or someone you love in Kentucky has mesothelioma or an asbestos-related illness. You can reach our Louisville office by calling us at 502-589-5600 or toll-free at 855-385-9532. You may also complete our contact form for a free initial consultation.