Treating Mesothelioma with Gene Therapy

Date Posted: February 8, 2012

Mesothelioma is a fatal type of cancer that is caused by asbestos exposure. One of the newest mesothelioma therapy treatments is gene therapy treatment. This type of treatment is based on the premise that mesothelioma is caused by mutations that allow cells to rapidly grow and multiply in the lungs. Thus, by making changes to the mutated genes, doctors may be able to restore them to their proper function or remove cancer cells from the body altogether.

Mesothelioma and Genetic Mutations

While some disorders are caused completely by abnormalities in chromosomes or are completely hereditary, mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos, which then causes genetic mutations leading to mesothelioma.
For this reason, doctors differ as to how they would approach gene therapy treatments for mesothelioma. Researchers are considering a variety of mesothelioma treatments. The most straightforward treatment involves replacing the mutated genes with functional genes. Essentially, researchers would find a way to remove the genes that cause mesothelioma from the body and replace them with healthy genes in order to cure cancer. This treatment might occur in conjunction with suicide gene therapy, in which researchers introduce a further mutation into cancer cells and then treat the patient with drugs that kill the mutated cells. Still other researchers are concerned with strengthening the patient’s immune system so that it kills mesothelioma cells itself, rendering other mesothelioma treatments unnecessary. Finally, researchers are investigating the possibility of strengthening the body’s response to chemotherapy and radiation through gene therapy treatments.

Progress of Gene Therapy Treatments

Gene therapy treatments are experimental as of January 2012. Researchers have been conducting clinical trials of various treatments since May 2010 to determine whether the treatments are effective and viable. Dr. Daniel Sterman, the Clinical Director of Thoracic Oncology Gene Therapy Program at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center currently sponsors and is the principal investigator of ongoing Ad.IFN-beta gene therapy clinical trials for mesothelioma cancer patients.

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, ask your doctor for referrals to clinical trials that you might be eligible to participate in. Some doctors are wary of mesothelioma treatments that involve experimental methods, especially gene therapy treatments. However, since mesothelioma is one of the most terminal types of cancer—most people don’t live for more than 18 months following diagnosis—it’s worth trying to get this treatment. You have little to lose if it doesn’t work for you and everything to gain if it does.