New Study Finds Promise in Breast Cancer Drug for Mesothelioma, According to Surviving Mesothelioma
Raleigh, NC (PRWEB) April 01, 2014 -- The breast cancer drug Aromasin may offer a new way to treat malignant pleural mesothelioma, according to research conducted at Italy. Click here to read details of the new study, available now on the Surviving Mesothelioma website.
Cancer researchers with Regina Elena National Cancer Institute in Rome have concluded that the drug Aromasin (exemestane), approved by the FDA for the treatment of breast cancer, has a measurable negative effect on mesothelioma cells, both in the test tube and in live mice. The drug fights cancer by blocking an enzyme responsible for producing estrogen.
“We show a significant reduction of cell proliferation, survival, migration and block of cells in S phase of cell cycle in mesothelioma cells upon exemestane (Aromasin) treatment,” reports lead author Barbara Nuvoli.
When combined with the mesothelioma drug Alimta(pemetrexed), Aromasin was so effective in mice with mesothelioma that, by the end of treatment, researchers could not obtain large enough tumor samples to test. The findings were recently published in the journal Molecular Cancer.
“One of the most encouraging things about this study, is that it focuses on a drug that has already been FDA-approved,” says Surviving Mesothelioma Managing Editor Alex Strauss. “If further studies show Aromasin can help mesothelioma patients, it could be available to them much sooner than an experimental drug might be.”
To learn more about how scientists believe Aromasin may fight mesothelioma, see Breast Cancer Drug Shrinks Mesothelioma Tumors in Mice, available now on the Surviving Mesothelioma website.
Nuvoli, B et al, “Exemestane blocks mesothelioma growth through downregulation of cAMP, pCREB and CD44 implicating new treatment option in patients affected by this disease”, March 21, 2014, Molecular Cancer, Epub ahead of print, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24655565.
For nearly ten years, Surviving Mesothelioma has brought readers the most important and ground-breaking news on the causes, diagnosis and treatment of mesothelioma. All Surviving Mesothelioma news is gathered and reported directly from the peer-reviewed medical literature. Written for patients and their loved ones, Surviving Mesothelioma news helps families make more informed decisions.
Michael Ellis, Cancer Monthly, http://www.survivingmesothelioma.com, +1 (919) 570-8595, [email protected]
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