New Studies Show Promise for Battling Mesothelioma on Molecular Level

The search for better treatment of mesothelioma cancer continues moving more aggressively toward immunotherapy at the molecular level, where new drugs show promise in early testing. The latest results are about RITA, a drug that affects the important p53 protein. Scientists at the Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO) in Philadelphia recently uncovered drugs designed to reactivate the p53 protein, which normally serves as a tumor suppressor in humans but gets turned off by most cancers. Reactivating the protein enables a body's own immune system to cause apoptosis, a programmed cell death within the tumor, without affecting the healthy cells around it. The findings were published recently in the scientific journal Cell Cycle and centered on RITA. The drug performed well in cases involving epithelioid and biphasic mesothelioma cell types but was not as promising with sarcomatoid, the most aggressive form of the disease. "The effects of RITA in mesothelioma represent an important 'proof of principle,'" Antonio Giordano, Ph.D., pathologist, founder and director of the SHRO told Asbestos.com. "P53 can be successfully reactivated in mesothelioma. We believe our findings could facilitate a more rapid clinical translation with these agents." RITA Gives Researchers Hope Researchers were encouraged by RITA's synergy with the chemotherapy drug cisplatin, which is a major part of today's standard treatment for the disease. They believe the use of this immunotherapy drug coul...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Tags: Treatment & Doctors Source Type: news