Researchers in Australia working on mesothelioma treatments may have found the “next frontier” for mesothelioma patients by combining chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is currently the standard primary treatment for mesothelioma. It involves the injection of anti-cancer drugs into the patient with the aim of destroying the cancer cells, reducing the cancer and therefore the symptoms.
There are many negative side-effects that can be experienced with chemotherapy. Many patients will suffer with nausea, mouth ulcers, hair loss, diarrhoea and fatigue.
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy is an emerging mesothelioma treatment, although not readily available on the NHS in the UK, there are many clinical trials currently running. Immunotherapy is a biological treatment which harnesses the body’s immune system to react to the cancer cells.
As immunotherapy takes a targeted approach, there are fewer side-effects than chemotherapy.
Combining chemotherapy and immunotherapy
Mesothelioma cells are able to hide from the body’s immune system due to certain proteins. Some immunotherapy drugs, such as Keytruda, block PD-L1 proteins, others block CTLA4 proteins. It has been found that drugs that only block CTLA4 proteins are not effective for treating mesothelioma.
Researchers found that combining chemotherapy drugs and immunotherapy drugs that block both PD-L1 and CTLA4 proteins had an increased effect on mesothelioma.
Further research is needed but this is a positive step for effective treatment of mesothelioma.
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Source:
Nowak, AK, “Immune checkpoint inhibition for the treatment of mesothelioma”, May 2, 2019, Expert Opinions in Biological Therapy, Epub ahead of print, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14712598.2019.1606209?journalCode=iebt20