Mouse Model for Mesothelioma Reproduces Human Disease

According to an article on mesothelioma research, scientists have established a mouse model for human malignant mesothelioma that will provide valuable insight into cancer development and progression along with new directions for design of therapeutic strategies. The research, published by Cell Press in the March issue of Cancer Cell, may eventually lead to a substantially improved outlook for patients with this devastating disease.

Chemotherapy can sometimes lead to improvement of overall survival but there is no cure for malignant mesothelioma and patients often succumb from the disease within a year of diagnosis. "There is an urgent need for experimental models of malignant mesothelioma that can be used to not only study the onset and progression of the disease, but also to serve as a model to select new combination therapies and targeted agents," says study leader, Dr. Anton Berns, from The Netherlands Cancer Institute.

In humans, malignant mesothelioma has been associated with genetic lesions that result in the loss of Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) and genetic lesions affecting RB and P53 pathways. Dr. Berns' team investigated whether a range of conditional single or compound mutations in the Nf2, p53 and Rb pathways within the mesothelial lining of the thoracic cavity would cause malignant mesothelioma in mice.

The researchers found that the vast majority of mice with conditional Nf2;Ink4a/Arf and Nf2;p53 mutations developed MM after a short latency period. The mouse malignant mesothelioma tumors, which could be followed noninvasively through the use of bioluminescence imaging, closely resembled human MM. Interestingly, Nf2;Ink4a/Arf knockout mice had a more invasive cancer when compared with Nf2;p53 knockout mice. The researchers went on to show that the loss of Ink4a makes a substantial contribution to the poor clinical outcome of murine malignant mesothelioma.

These results describe an excellent model system for investigating the molecular mechanisms that underlie malignant mesothelioma . "Our mouse models should be suitable to further dissect pathways critically important in mesothelioma development and progression and serve as invaluable tools to test new intervention strategies," concludes Dr. Berns. "We have also derived a series of cell lines that reproduce the disease when grafted into the thoracic cavity. These may also facilitate design of better MM therapies."

Par unit buys licensing rights for malignant mesothelioma drug

Par Pharmaceutical Companies Inc.'s (NYSE:PRX) proprietary products division said Tuesday it has acquired the exclusive licensing and commercialization rights to Onconase from Alfacell Corp. (NASDAQ:ACEL)



Onconase is a drug used in the treatment of inoperable malignant mesothelioma currently in Phase III development.



Under the terms of the agreement, Par's Strativa Pharmaceuticals unit will make an initial payment of $5 million to Alfacell. It will also pay an additional $30 million upon approval of the drug by the Food and Drug Administration.



Alfacell will retain the right to co-promote Onconase in the future and is also entitled to royalty payments from sales, as well as possible milestone payments of an undisclosed amount.



Alfacell is a Bloomfield, N.J.-based pharmaceutical company. Its stock closed Monday at $1.75.



Par is a Woodcliff Lake, N.J.-based pharmaceutical company. Its stock closed Monday at $20.97.

Mesothelioma Treatment Options

Mesothelioma Treatment Options

Here’s a very informative article on treatment options for malignant mesothelioma:

Treatment of malignant mesothelioma can be very difficult for a wide variety of reasons. First and foremost, mesothelioma can be difficult to correctly diagnose and may not show up in a patient for decades. This can create problems for treatment because with mesothelioma, as with all cancers, treatment is more difficult the longer the disease has been allowed to progress.

In addition to the difficulties created by delayed treatment of mesothelioma, the disease often does not respond to traditional cancer treatments, further complicating treatment. Also, the organs that are involved in mesothelioma cannot be partially or wholly removed usually, which means that surgical options can be extremely limited. Lastly, the fact that the majority of mesothelioma patients are men of advanced age, usually over 50, means that some more radical treatment approaches cannot be used because of declining health due to old age.

All of this means that even newly diagnosed mesothelioma patients sometimes are given a very bad chance of recovery by their doctors. Statistics are hard to come by, but British scientists suggest that 10% of newly diagnosed mesothelioma patients will live for at least three more years; Only 5% will live five years or longer. For patients in the first stage, 50% live for at least two more years. However doctors can be mistaken, and a diagnosis of mesothelioma is in no way always tantamount to a death sentence. Famed scientist Stephen Jay Gould lived with peritoneal mesothelioma for nearly 20 years. He eventually died from a different type of cancer.

There are four stages of malignant mesothelioma, which measure how far the disease has progressed. How a patient's mesothelioma is treated depends largely on which stage he or she is in when the disease is found.Patients with Stage I or milder Stage II mesothelioma are generally offered one or more of the conventional cancer treatments: surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

Treatment Options:

Surgery
For early-stage patients, surgery for mesothelioma aims to cure the disease by literally cutting the cancer out of the patient's body. The most common type of surgery for pleural mesothelioma is a pleurectomy/decortication, which is where doctors remove all or part of the tissues lining the lungs and chest cavity.

Radiation and Chemotherapy
In addition to or instead of surgery, doctors may offer an early-stage mesothelioma patient chemotherapy, radiation or both. Radiation and chemotherapy are designed to kill the cancer cells without killing the patient.

Unfortunately, in order to kill the cancerous cells, these treatments often kill healthy cells as well. This is why cancer patients often lose their hair, have trouble eating and feel generally weak and sick during treatment. Doctors who prescribe chemotherapy or radiation may also suggest dietary supplements or other measures to control these symptoms.

Chemotherapy gives patients a drug designed to attack the cancer cells as they divide. The drug is swallowed or injected into the bloodstream regularly over a period of weeks or months, in cycles that give a patient some recovery time in between treatments. Patients can live at home and just go into a doctor's office for the treatment; sometimes, they can even have the treatments at home.

Radiation therapy seeks to kill the cancer cells with high-energy rays of radiation, such as x-rays, that stop them from growing. With external-beam radiation, patients will be subjected to directed rays of radiation directed as specific parts of the body affected by cancer. This treatment lasts about 30 minutes a day and is given in the exact same way each day over a period of weeks.

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Cancer Society: Ban Asbestos to Stop Mesothelioma and Asbestos Cancer Death

Canada has long been the world's largest exporter of chrysotile asbestos, which accounts for more than 90% of the asbestos historically used in the United States.

The Canadian government continues to claim that chrysotile asbestos is safe.

Now Canadian cancer experts are taking a stand against this long held government policy which seeks to protect the prized, but deadly, mineral and the profits it brings to Canadian mines and manufacturers.

The Canadian Cancer Society is now calling for an asbestos ban.
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=50d51cc6-b606-4ffd-a1c9-db40c1e8d42b&k=15816

According to this Canada.com article: "The society believes that exposure to asbestos must stop so that asbestos-related diseases can be eliminated," Barbara Whylie, CEO of the Canadian Cancer Society, said in a written statement.

In response, Pat Martin, an MP and former asbestos worker was quoted as saying:

"....it was high time a group as credible as the Canadian Cancer Society 'debunked the myth' that chrysotile asbestos is safer than other types of asbestos."

It is refreshing to see an influential group like the Canadian Cancer Society challenge the Canadian government's irresponsible position that has caused tens of thousands of workers in Canada and the United States to develop mesothelioma and asbestos cancer.

The same propaganda put out by the Canadian government is adopted by American corporations who seek to avoid responsibility for compensating asbestos victims.

Chrysotile asbestos accounts for nearly all the asbestos ever used in the United States and is the greatest contributor to malignant mesothelioma in this country.