Monthly Archives: May 2016

Mesothelioma Clinical Trial of Nintedanib Begins

Mesothelioma Clinical Trial of Nintedanib Begins

Researchers preparing to conduct a Phase 3 clinical trial of the mesothelioma drug nintedanib have officially enrolled their first mesothelioma patient. Eventually, close to 400 others will be signed up. The researchers say they intend to use this study to see how well nintedanib works for patients with unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma. They said the

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Mesothelioma-BAP1-Gene-Defect-Traces-Back-to-One-Couple

Mesothelioma BAP1 Gene Defect Traces Back to One Couple

You have mesothelioma because you were exposed to asbestos. But you needed only the tiniest exposure to trigger the cancer if your great-great-great- great-great-great-great-grandparents happened to be a particular German couple who settled in colonial America in the 1700s. Researchers have figured out that this one husband and wife were the starting point for a

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Two-Mesothelioma-Biomarkers-May-Aid-Earlier-Diagnosis

Two Mesothelioma Biomarkers May Aid Earlier Diagnosis

Two serum biomarkers that may be particularly helpful in diagnosing malignant pleural mesothelioma at an early juncture are soluble mesothelin-related peptide and thioredoxin-1. In research conducted by a team from Dicle University in Diyarbakir, Turkey, these two serum biomarkers were found to be increased in individuals who had been exposed to asbestos. Asbestos exposure is

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WT1 Mesothelioma Vaccine Galinpepimut-S Improves Survival Rate

WT1 Mesothelioma Vaccine Galinpepimut-S Improves Survival Rate

Cancer clinicians attending the recent International Mesothelioma Interest Group (iMig) conference in the United Kingdom learned that Phase 2 testing of the WT1 mesothelioma vaccine galinpepimut-S ended satisfactorily. Galinpepimut-S is a late clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy that targets malignant pleural mesothelioma and other solid tumors as well as certain hematologic cancers. The Phase 2 clinical trial

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FDA Authorizes Phase 2 Testing of Tazemetostat for Mesothelioma

FDA Authorizes Phase 2 Testing of Tazemetostat for Mesothelioma

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in early May accepted an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for a mesothelioma treatment aimed at patients with a particular defect of the BAP1 gene. The FDA’s IND approval was granted for the drug tazemetostat. The manufacturer, Epizyme, Inc., is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Getting IND approval paves

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Tumors in Mesothelioma Patients Reduced by T Cell Receptor JTCR016

Tumors in Mesothelioma Patients Reduced by T Cell Receptor JTCR016

Evidence that T cell receptor product JTCR016 can reduce the size of mesothelioma tumors was presented recently at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. This same evidence also showed that JTCR016 can spur significant T cell expansion and persistence in mesothelioma patients. JTCR016 targets Wilms tumor-1 (WT-1), according

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Some Older Mesothelioma Patients May Be OK for Lung-Sparing EPD Surgery

Some Older Mesothelioma Patients May Be OK for Lung-Sparing EPD Surgery

Extended pleurectomy decortication (EPD) is an aggressive enough type of mesothelioma surgery that it is thought to be always contraindicated for elderly mesothelioma patients. However, a group of researchers from the University of Leicester Hospitals in England now believe that a mesothelioma patient’s advanced age should not by itself automatically exclude him or her from

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Mesothelioma Heparanase-Inhibition Theories Will Be Put to the Test

Mesothelioma Heparanase-Inhibition Theories Will Be Put to the Test

Controlling heparanase secretions in mesothelioma cells is something that has captured the attention of a number of mesothelioma researchers since 2004. Now, a relative handful of them will be able to probe heparanase more deeply thanks to a newly formed cancer research partnership between the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Medical

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Reducing Iron Seems to Prevent Mesothelioma in Lab Tests with Rats

Reducing Iron Seems to Prevent Mesothelioma in Lab Tests with Rats

Your mother told you iron was good for your health because it helped build a strong body. Your doctor may someday tell you the opposite – iron is bad because it appears to encourage the onset of mesothelioma in people who have been exposed to asbestos. Researchers in Japan have uncovered evidence suggesting it might

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