Mesothelioma Experimental Treatments Making Headway in Clinical Trials

Although there is no cure for malignant mesothelioma, progress is being made in extending the life span of mesothelioma patients by combining traditional therapy with unique experimental treatments such as immunotherapy, photodynamic therapy and gene therapy.

Because mesothelioma cannot be cured with traditional treatments such as surgery or chemotherapy, medical professionals have learned that fighting the cancer requires more than one mode of treatment. Known as multimodality therapy, doctors combine treatments such as chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy or some unique form of treatment like immunotherapy to improve mesothelioma life expectancy.

Immunotherapy uses a patient’s own immune system to attack cancer cells. There are two forms of immunotherapy used in mesothelioma, known as passive and active. Passive immunotherapy uses antibodies that may be administered alone or attached to other compounds, such as chemotherapeutic drugs. Active immunotherapy involves stimulation of the immune system with vaccines or biological agents like macrophages (white blood cells).

A treatment based on light, photodynamic therapy (PDT) involves three elements: a nontoxic photosensitizing compound, oxygen and visible light. PDT of the pleura is currently in an experimental phase and aims to eliminate remaining microscopic cancerous tissue after complete surgical removal of the tumor by means of intracavitary administration. PDT could be an important treatment option for mesothelioma patients following surgery because the growth pattern of mesothelioma tumors does not allow for 100 percent resection of all cancerous cells.

In gene therapy, genes are typically introduced into the body through the form of a virus that has been genetically altered with a copy of a normal gene. Once the virus enters targeted cells, the cells begin to produce normal proteins instead of defective ones. Coated DNA is another means of administering gene therapy in mesothelioma patient. Gene therapy is currently only available to patients who qualify for clinical trials because the Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved gene therapy for public use.

Some of these experimental treatments are even being combined with each other rather than only with traditional therapies. For example, the objective of immuno-gene therapy is to transfer genetic material into cells to stimulate a patient’s own immune system to fight cancer.

Recent studies suggest these experimental therapies could play a major role in the treatment of mesothelioma, and clinical trials continue to explore these therapies in the treatment of malignant mesothelioma. Patients can browse ClinicalTrials.gov for past and current trials investigating experimental treatments in malignant mesothelioma.

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