Investigational Mesothelioma Drugs Move Closer to Reality, According to Surviving Mesothelioma
Raleigh, NC (PRWEB) May 07, 2016 -- Two new investigational drugs have been in the news this past week, stirring up excitement within the mesothelioma community. Surviving Mesothelioma just posted an article on these promising compounds. Click here to read it now.
YS110 is a monoclonal antibody that targets a protein responsible for tumor growth and invasion. As many as 85 percent of mesothelioma patients overexpress this protein, making it an ideal target for a new drug, according to the Japanese team testing it.
“YS110 suppressed the proliferation of NCI-H2452 [mesothelioma cell line] cells by approximately 20 percent in 48 hours,” reports Keio University-based researcher Mutsumi Hayashi in Cancer Cell International.
A second compound produced by a Massachusetts biopharmaceutical company inhibits the production of an enzyme key to mesothelioma cell viability. In a news release this week, Epizyme announced that the FDA has granted Investigational New Drug status to tazemetostat.
While the drug had an impact on mesothelioma cells by itself, researchers reported even better results when they combined it with pemetrexed (Alimta) chemotherapy. A Phase 2 trial of tazemetostat as a novel mesothelioma treatment is planned for later this year.
“Mesothelioma patients have so few viable treatment options available to them that we pay close attention when any promising new therapies are making news,” says Alex Strauss, Managing Editor of Surviving Mesothelioma. “Both YS110 and tazemetostat appear to be drugs worth watching in the coming months.”
To read more about the two compounds and those who are studying them, see Investigational Drugs May Offer New Ways to Treat Malignant Mesothelioma, now available on the Surviving Mesothelioma website.
Hayashi, M, et al, “A humanized anti-CD26 monoclonal antibody inhibits cell growth of malignant mesothelioma via retarded G2/M cell cycle transition”, Cancer Cell International, April 30, 2016, http://cancerci.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12935-016-0310-9
Epizyme Announces FDA Acceptance of Investigational New Drug Application for Tazemetostat in Mesothelioma, News Release, Epizyme website, http://amda-1rbic2.client.shareholder.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=968981
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 Monthy, http://www.survivingmesothelioma.com, +1 (919) 570-8595, [email protected]
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