Immunotherapy Trials May Result in Breakthrough Mesothelioma Treatment

Melinda Bachini thought she was spending quality time with family and friends on her son's 14th birthday. Instead, doctors in 2009 diagnosed the mother of six with a rare, incurable bile duct cancer in its final stage. Options were slim, and her prognosis grim. Hope seemed lost after surgery and chemotherapy failed her, but in 2012 she enrolled in a clinical trial at the National Institutes of Health involving an immunotherapy called adoptive cell transfer (ACT). In the simplest terms, it uses patients' immune system T cells to fight their cancer — and it appears to be working. Although she continues with regular checkups, the 45-year-old Billings, Montana, resident is now thriving. Since she started treatment two years ago, her tumors have been shrinking, and she's enjoying time with her family again. "I am slowly coming back," Bachini told NBC News in a May interview. "When I went into this trial, I felt like I had nothing to lose, but everything to gain…Life definitely doesn’t stop because you have cancer." Researchers now are testing a version of the therapy on mesothelioma patients in clinical trials in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The results of those clinical trials could render a breakthrough in cancer treatment for patients with the rare, asbestos-related disease. Keeping Bachini's Cancer Under Control Steven Rosenberg, M.D., directs the ACT trial in Maryland. He is considered an immunotherapy and gene therapy pioneer. Rosenberg was the first to safely an...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Research & Clinical Trials Source Type: news