Parasite Drug Shows Effectiveness Against Mesothelioma

Dr. Antonio Giordano believes his team has cleared the path to the next breakthrough in the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma. The advancement involves a new use for an old drug, pyrvinium pamoate, which doctors have successfully used for more than 50 years to treat infections of pinworm parasite. “This drug that no one expected to be involved with mesothelioma is potentially a new weapon against this aggressive type of tumor,” Giordano told Asbestos.com. “Our findings are exciting, very exciting. This one can move forward.” Giordano is the founder and director of the Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO) at Temple University in Philadelphia. He also is an internationally renowned professor of pathology and oncology at the University of Sienna in Italy. His expertise involves identifying novel targets and therapies at the molecular level. This particular drug has shown promise with mesothelioma as well as pancreatic and breast cancer. Better Mesothelioma Treatments Needed The findings have been published in the latest issue of Journal of Cell Physiology. A summary is available on the SHRO website. “This should trigger interest and attention of oncologists all over the world to work on it,” Giordano said. “It’s now about taking the initiative to bring this drug to the clinical bedside, to the patients.” Pleural mesothelioma, which is caused by exposure to asbestos, is a rare and aggressive cancer with no definitive cure. Less than one-third of ...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: news