Study: Cancer Enzyme Slows Growth of Pleural Mesothelioma

Patients with pleural mesothelioma may extend their survival by an estimated 30% when the latest anti-cancer enzyme is added to standard chemotherapy, according to a recently completed study. AGI-PEG 20 showed unprecedented effectiveness when treating patients with sarcomatoid mesothelioma and biphasic mesothelioma – the most treatment-resistant subtypes – in an international, multicenter, phase II/III clinical trial known as ATOMIC Meso. The enzyme works by limiting an amino acid known as arginine that often fuels tumor cells. It depletes its effectiveness in promoting tumor growth, leading to longer survival.  “The results were astonishing to me,” Dr. Peter Szlosarek, principal investigator and medical oncologist at UK Barts Cancer Institute in London, England, told The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com. “The response was robust from the beginning.” Anti-Cancer Enzyme Makes Chemotherapy More Effective The study compared patients being treated with traditional pemetrexed and cisplatin chemotherapy to those using ADI-PEG 20 and the chemotherapy combination. All patients were previously untreated, unresectable and diagnosed with either sarcomatoid or biphasic mesothelioma. Those patients, typically with a median survival of less than six months, were randomized in a double-blind clinical trial.  Epithelioid mesothelioma is the most treatable and common subtype of mesothelioma that affects close to 70% of the patients being diagnosed. Th...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: news