Causes of Mesothelioma - Mesothelioma Detection
Cytokines - Interferons (IFN) and Interleukins (IL):
Cytokines are small proteins that occur naturally in the human body. They are similar to hormones and have specific effects on the behavior of other cells.
In 1976 Dr. Robert Gallo (later head of the National Cancer Institute, and famous for his work on HIV) isolated a cytokine protein molecule called interleukin-2 (IL2) which is capable of stimulating the growth of immune system cells called T-cells. T-cells are sometimes called "killer cells" because they search out malignant or virally infected cells and kill them. Using IL2 as a treatment for pleural mesothelioma is still in the experimental stages, but researchers hope that injecting IL2 intrapleurally will promote a significant anti-tumor response.
For more information about interleukins and mesothelioma, the following abstracts are available online:
- "Intrapleural administration of interleukin-2 for the treatment of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma: a Phase II study," Cancer, Nov 15 1998, 83(10):2099-104
- "Persistent Vaccinia Virus-Interleukin 2 (VV-IL2) Gene Expression in Malignant Mesothelioma (MM) despite evidence of anti-viral immunity"
- "Effects of interleukin-2 for the treatment of malignant mesothelioma," Oncol Rep, Mar-Apr 1998, 5(2):489-92
- "Cytokine gene therapy of mesothelioma. Immune and antitumor effects of transfected interleukin-12," American Jnl of Respiratory Cell Molecular Biology, Sept. 21 1999, 3:347-356.
Interferons are also naturally occuring cytokine proteins, but they inhibit the growth of malignant cells as well as enhance the immune system. Like interleukins, these immune system promoters are being tested to see if they help increase the body's response to what is often an extremely resistant malignancy, mesothelioma.
For more information about interferon and mesothelioma, the following abstracts are available online:
- "Weekly systemic combination of cisplatin and interferon alpha2a in diffuse malignant pleural mesothelioma," Lung Cancer, Nov 1998, 22(2):119-25
- "Human malignant mesothelioma cell growth: activation of janus kinase 2 and signal transducer and activator of transcription 1alpha for inhibition by interferon-gamma," Cancer Res, Feb 15 1998, 58(4):840-7
- "Interferon gene therapy has anti-angiogenic effect on brain tumors in mice" Reuters Health, January 18, 2000
- Search for clinical trials using Interferon for mesothelioma, on the NCI web site.
Mesothelioma Information
Types of mesothelioma include: pleural mesothelioma, peritoneal mesothelioma and pericardial mesothelioma. Causes of mesothelioma have been limited to asbestos exposure. There are 2,000 to 3,000 new cases of malignant mesothelioma reported each year in the United States alone. Although malignant mesothelioma is viewed to be a somewhat rare type of cancer, the disease is believed responsible for an estimated 200,000 deaths worldwide.
Early mesothelioma detection can allow for more flexibility in terms of selecting a mesothelioma treatment option; however, no mesothelioma treatments have had success in combating the rare cancer.
Mesothelioma Info
There are three traditional mesothelioma treatment options used to treat malignant mesothelioma:
- Surgery
- Mesothelioma chemotherapy
- Mesothelioma radiation therapy
There are five new mesothelioma treatment options used to treat malignant mesothelioma:
- New mesothelioma chemotherapy drugs
- Mesothelioma gene therapy
- Mesothelioma immunotherapy
- Photodynamic therapy (PDT)
- Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)