Mesothelioma is one of the disease that’s been very difficult to treat. The Mesothelioma treatment options have been limited over the past few years since most of these options do not completely get rid of the disease.
However, experts have responded to the limited Mesothelioma treatment options. A study funded by Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation and the National Cancer Institute, now provides a new method to add up to the possible Mesothelioma treatment options.
In journal proceedings from the National Academy of Sciences last Monday, researchers have published a response to the problem that has been bothering the research community for over 50 years and that is the effect of asbestos in the development of mesothelioma. The research is a breakthrough for it may help experts prevent or slow down mesothelioma growth among patients.
According to the study led by Drs. Haining Yang and Michele Carbone at the University of Hawai’i Cancer Research Center, show that asbestos accumulating in the tissue cause inflammations on the exposed area and eventually lead to tumor growth. The molecule HMGB1 is then released in reaction to the exposure of asbestos. HMGB1 regulates the inflammation. However, it also triggers the constant inflammatory process that will eventually cause mesothelioma.
Furthermore, Drs. Yang and Carbone proposed the concept of targeting the HMGB1 within the cells of a patient. With this, they believed that it may decrease the incidence of cancer and mesothelioma, and it may slow the growth of the tumor down. This idea will still be undergoing medical trial to further prove that targeting HMGB1 will truly help a mesothelioma patient. This medical trial will be undergone in Turkey since most of the population in this country die due to mesothelioma.
According to Michele Carbone, M.D., “I am very hopeful about this discovery. Now that we know that the chronic inflammation caused by asbestos drives tumor growth, we can test different medicines that can suppress inflammation. Aspirin was shown to decrease the incidence of colon cancer, a tumor that like mesothelioma, is associated with chronic inflammation.”
Furthermore, Dr. Carbone would also like to test whether aspirin helps in the mitigation of mesothelioma among patients. Also, she would like to further find out if there are any more methods in specifically targeting the HMGB1.
“We will start to see if targeting HMGB1 will help us detect mesothelioma in the early stages and/or to prevent it in Turkey – if the results are promising we will bring the trials back to the USA,” Carbone said.
