New Trial Will Test Virus-Delivered Treatment for Mesothelioma, According to Surviving Mesothelioma
Raleigh, NC (PRWEB) August 13, 2015 -- Researchers from multiple Japanese universities are recruiting patients for the first human trials of a new approach to treating mesothelioma by “turning off” cell growth signaling. Surviving Mesothelioma has just posted the full story. Click here to read it now.
The experimental treatment involves manipulating the growth of mesothelioma cells with an injection of an altered virus. The virus has been manipulated to express a gene that interferes with the signals that tell cancer cells to grow and multiply.
“The clinical investigation is a first-in-human trial to use the NK4 gene and to block the HGF/c-Met pathway with gene medicine,” writes lead investigator Yugi Tada of Chiba University. “These data will be crucial to judge whether local production of NK4 molecules can be an anti-cancer strategy.”
The researchers recently laid out their study protocol, which will utilize a common virus called adenovirus as a delivery system for genetic information, on Springerplus.
“Although it is not yet part of the standard approach for mesothelioma, virotherapy has shown great promise in the treatment of other types of cancer, often with fewer serious side effects than other forms of therapy,” says Surviving Mesothelioma Managing Editor Alex Strauss.
To understand how the Ad-NK4 treatment may combat mesothelioma, as well as the findings of a related study, see Could a Virus-Delivered Gene Slow Mesothelioma Growth? now available on the Surviving Mesothelioma website.
Tada, Y, “A clinical protocol to inhibit the HGF/c-Met pathway for malignant mesothelioma with an intrapleural injection of adenoviruses expressing the NK-4 gene”, July 16, 2015, Springerplus, eCollection, http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186%2Fs40064-015-1123-3
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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