Mesothelioma News and Research

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Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos. In this disease, malignant cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the body's internal organs. Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or have been exposed to high levels of asbestos fibers.

FDA grants PMA for Pinnacle's Optiguide DCYL700 Fiber Optic Diffuser Series flexible fiber

Concordia Healthcare Corp. announced today that its subsidiary Pinnacle Biologics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical research and development company specializing in rare diseases, was granted U.S. Food and Drug Administration premarket supplemental approval (PMA) for its Optiguide DCYL700 Fiber Optic Diffuser Series flexible fiber.

26 Mar 2014

Systemic stem cell therapy reduces malignant mesothelioma growth

Systemic delivery of stem cells expressing an apoptosis-inducing protein can successfully incorporate into malignant pleural mesothelioma cells and subsequently induce their death, according to preclinical study findings.

19 Mar 2014

Novel cancer immunotherapy approach may provide new weapon against most deadly tumors

A novel approach to cancer immunotherapy - strategies designed to induce the immune system to attack cancer cells - may provide a new and cost-effective weapon against some of the most deadly tumors, including ovarian cancer and mesothelioma.

6 Mar 2014

Verastem presents preliminary data from VS-6063 Phase 1 trial in Japanese patients with solid tumors

Verastem, Inc., focused on discovering and developing drugs to treat cancer by the targeted killing of cancer stem cells, today presented preliminary data from an ongoing First-in-Asia Phase 1 trial of VS-6063 in Japanese patients with advanced solid tumors, including one patient with mesothelioma. The Phase 1 study assessed the safety and pharmacokinetics of single agent VS-6063.

5 Mar 2014

RNAi-based screening offers MPM treatment hope

Research using RNA interference-based screening has identified several potential targets for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.

31 Jan 2014

Mesothelioma patients treated with radiation before surgery experience speedier recovery

Results of clinical research that treated mesothelioma with radiation before surgery show the three-year survival rate more than doubled for study participants afflicted with this deadly disease, compared to treating with surgery first.

21 Jan 2014

Studies aim to address urgent need to identify possible new methods for mesothelioma treatment

Mesothelioma is a very aggressive cancer associated with asbestos exposure, which is usually diagnosed in an advanced stage. So far no therapeutic strategy has proven effective against this deadly cancer and the prognosis remains very poor with only few exceptions.

20 Jan 2014

Concordia Healthcare acquires Pinnacle Biologics

Concordia Healthcare Corp., an integrated, specialty healthcare company focused on the acquisition of legacy pharmaceutical products and medical devices and the acquisition and/or development of orphan drugs, announced today that it has acquired Pinnacle Biologics, Inc., a U.S.-based biopharmaceutical company specializing in legacy pharmaceuticals which have the potential for development as orphan drugs to treat cancer indications in addition to those for which they have previously been approved.

24 Dec 2013

Engineered immune cells show antitumor activity in two patients with advanced cancers

Engineered immune cells, called CARTmeso cells, designed to direct antitumor immune responses toward tumors that carry a protein called mesothelin, showed antitumor activity in two patients with advanced cancers that had not responded to prior treatments, according to a study published in Cancer Immunology Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

22 Dec 2013

Chest wall resection effective for recurrent mesothelioma

Salvage chest wall resection could lengthen survival in patients with isolated chest wall recurrence of malignant pleural mesothelioma, research indicates.

16 Dec 2013

Penn Medicine researchers show predictive power of overlooked lymph nodes

For the first time, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have shown the predictive power of a group of overlooked lymph nodes--known as the posterior intercostal lymph nodes--that could serve as a better tool to stage and ultimately treat patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

29 Oct 2013

Loyola hospital uses new 3-D vision technology for minimally invasive lung surgery

Loyola University Medical Center is the first Illinois hospital to use new 3-D vision technology for minimally invasive lung surgery.

29 Oct 2013

Polaris Group reports positive results from ADI-PEG 20 Phase 2 trial for malignant pleural mesothelioma

Polaris Group announced today that positive results from a randomized Phase 2 trial of ADI-PEG 20, arginine deiminase formulated with polyethylene glycol, for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma were presented at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in Sydney, Australia.

28 Oct 2013

FDA grants orphan drug designation to Aduro's CRS-207 for treatment of pancreatic cancer

Aduro BioTech, Inc. announced today that the Office of Orphan Products Development of the Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation for CRS-207, a novel immunotherapy, for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

22 Oct 2013

Verastem presents positive results from VS-6063 clinical and preclinical studies at 2013 AACR-NCI-EORTC meeting

Verastem, Inc., focused on discovering and developing drugs to treat cancer by the targeted killing of cancer stem cells, announced positive results from the Phase 1 portion of its Phase 1/1b study of defactinib (VS-6063) in combination with paclitaxel in patients with ovarian cancer that were presented at the 2013 AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Boston.

21 Oct 2013

Immunologic checkpoint inhibitor shows promise in malignant mesothelioma

Tremelimumab, one of a new class of immunomodulatory monoclonal antibodies, has shown encouraging clinical activity and acceptable tolerability in patients with chemotherapy-resistant malignant mesothelioma, results of a single-arm phase II study show.

27 Sep 2013

Researchers lead two major trials to test potential treatments for asbestos-related cancer

University of Leicester researchers are leading two major trials into treatments for a type of cancer which affects those exposed to asbestos.

23 Sep 2013

Virttu Biologics treats first cohort of patients in SEPREHVIR Phase I/IIa study

Virttu Biologics Limited, a UK biotechnology company with expertise in the field of oncolytic viruses, has announced that it has treated the first cohort of patients in its Phase I/IIa clinical study of its oncolytic virus, SEPREHVIR (HSV1716) for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.

27 Aug 2013

EPHB2 overexpressed in malignant pleural mesothelioma cell lines, find researchers

Malignant mesothelioma is a rare asbestos-associated malignancy with limited therapeutic options. Despite advances in the treatment, the median survival remains 12 months from the time of diagnosis. Increased understanding of the molecular basis for the diverse signaling pathways involved in cancer progression should promote the discovery of novel biomarkers for early diagnosis and potentially lead to more effective therapeutic tools for the disease.

26 Jul 2013

Verastem's defactinib gets FDA orphan drug designation for treatment of mesothelioma

Verastem, Inc., focused on discovering and developing drugs to treat cancer by the targeted killing of cancer stem cells, announced that lead cancer stem cell inhibitor, VS-6063 (defactinib), has received orphan drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in the treatment of mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer.

24 Jul 2013