Lymphoma Drug May Kill Some Mesothelioma Cells

A subset of mesothelioma patients may soon be treated with Adcetris, a drug currently used to treat Hodgkin's disease and large-cell lymphoma. The possible breakthrough stems from the recent identification of the protein CD30 in a small but distinct percentage of mesothelioma cells lines, providing a new target for treatment of the asbestos-related cancer. Cancer researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland first discovered that Adcetris, also known as brentuximab vedotin, effectively slowed the growth of mesothelioma cells that contained CD30. Lead researcher and hematologist Dr. Afshin Dowlati told Asbestos.com the drug was "very, very active against these cells, and not active against the cells that did not express CD30." Molecular Cancer Therapeutics published the report titled, "CD30 Is a Potential Therapeutic Target in Malignant Mesothelioma," earlier this year. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Adcetris in 2011 under its accelerated approval program. Research performed at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in Miami helped the FDA approve the drug for lymphoma. CD30 Target Protein Is Key to Treatment CD30 is important because it interacts with smaller proteins and acts like a regulator of apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Adcetris, manufactured by Seattle Genetics, is an antibody-drug conjugate designed to target CD30 and change the way it reacts. Case Western, which is rising to national prominence in mesothelioma resear...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Research & Clinical Trials Source Type: news