Bone Health Drug Inhibits Mesothelioma Tumor Growth

A drug used to treat bone disease and high blood calcium levels may carry benefits as part of a combination treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma, a recent study concluded. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center conducted a pilot study testing the effects of zoledronic acid — a bisphosphonate, or bone health drug, marketed as Reclast and Zometa — against a small group of patients with unresectable pleural mesothelioma. The study, published in the June edition of Lung Cancer: Targets and Therapy journal, was a follow-up to preclinical research showing zoledronic acid’s antiangiogenic (substances that inhibit growth of new blood vessels) effect on mesothelioma cancer cells in vitro. In the pilot study, zoledronic acid only showed a modest effect as a stand-alone therapy for patients with advanced pleural mesothelioma, with a composite response rate of 12.5 percent and a clinical benefit rate (response and stability of the disease) of 37.5 percent. However, researchers believe the results warrant further investigation of the bone disease drug as a combination therapy for mesothelioma. “Our findings suggest that zoledronic acid has single-agent activity in [malignant pleural mesothelioma] treatment,” lead author Muhammad Omer Jamil wrote in the study. “Zoledronic acid can mitigate angiogenesis at subcellular level by mevalonate pathway inhibition and is beneficial in antitumor therapy.” How Bisphosphonates Inhi...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: bone disease treatment keytruda mesothelioma treatments Muhammad Omer Jamil reclast treating malignant pleural mesothelioma University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center Zoledronic acid zometa Source Type: news