Study: ‘Drug-Factory’ Technology Kills Mesothelioma Tumor Cells in Mice
Research & Clinical TrialsAsbestos.com is the nation’s most trusted mesothelioma resource
The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com has provided patients and their loved ones the most updated and reliable information on mesothelioma and asbestos exposure since 2006.
Our team of Patient Advocates includes a medical doctor, a registered nurse, health services administrators, veterans, VA-accredited Claims Agents, an oncology patient navigator and hospice care expert. Their combined expertise means we help any mesothelioma patient or loved one through every step of their cancer journey.
More than 30 contributors, including mesothelioma doctors, survivors, health care professionals and other experts, have peer-reviewed our website and written unique research-driven articles to ensure you get the highest-quality medical and health information.
About The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com
- Assisting mesothelioma patients and their loved ones since 2006.
- Helps more than 50% of mesothelioma patients diagnosed annually in the U.S.
- A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
- 5-star reviewed mesothelioma and support organization.
Testimonials
My family has only the highest compliment for the assistance and support that we received from The Mesothelioma Center. This is a staff of compassionate and knowledgeable individuals who respect what your family is experiencing and who go the extra mile to make an unfortunate diagnosis less stressful. Information and assistance were provided by The Mesothelioma Center at no cost to our family.LashawnMesothelioma patient’s daughter
How to Cite Asbestos.com’s Article
APA
Povtak, T. (2022, August 30). Study: ‘Drug-Factory’ Technology Kills Mesothelioma Tumor Cells in Mice. Asbestos.com. Retrieved May 31, 2023, from https://www.asbestos.com/news/2022/08/30/drug-factory-technology-mesothelioma-mice/
MLA
Povtak, Tim. "Study: ‘Drug-Factory’ Technology Kills Mesothelioma Tumor Cells in Mice." Asbestos.com, 30 Aug 2022, https://www.asbestos.com/news/2022/08/30/drug-factory-technology-mesothelioma-mice/.
Chicago
Povtak, Tim. "Study: ‘Drug-Factory’ Technology Kills Mesothelioma Tumor Cells in Mice." Asbestos.com. Last modified August 30, 2022. https://www.asbestos.com/news/2022/08/30/drug-factory-technology-mesothelioma-mice/.

Tiny, drug-producing beads implanted in the chest cavity could one day provide a powerful platform that would change the way mesothelioma cancer is treated.
In a recent study, researchers from Rice University and the Baylor College of Medicine demonstrated the implants’ impressive effectiveness in mice, raising hopes of a possible breakthrough for this tough-to-treat cancer.
Researchers have already met with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and hope to open a clinical trial to begin testing the procedure’s effectiveness on mesothelioma patients by the second half of 2023. Clinical Cancer Research published the latest study Aug. 22.
“There is a lot of work left to be done, but we are definitely excited about the potential and encouraged by the clinical work already done,” Rice University bioengineer Omid Veiseh, whose lab invented the novel technology, told The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com. “This could shift the paradigm [of treatment].”
New Technique Delivers Drugs Directly to Tumors
Drug-producing beads, which are no larger than the head of a pin, can be programmed to produce continuous high doses of genetically engineered interleukin-2, a natural compound that activates white blood cells to fight tumors. Researchers have dubbed the process “drug-factory” technology.
The FDA already has approved the technology with interleukin-2 for a clinical trial involving ovarian cancer. It is scheduled to open near the end of 2022.
For the study of mice with mesothelioma, beads were loaded with thousands of cells and implanted with minimally invasive surgery alongside the tumors and inside the pleural lining that surrounds the lungs.
In the first group, tumor burden was reduced by an average of 80% after only one week of treatment. In more than half of the mice, the implants completely eliminated the tumors.
A second group of mice received a combination treatment of the same interleukin-2 and a checkpoint inhibitor drug, which works by training the immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells.
In that second group, tumor burden was eliminated in all seven animals, none of which exhibited any recurrence in the following weeks of observation.
“It is very hard to treat mesothelioma tumors in mice, like it is in human beings,” said thoracic surgeon Dr. Bryan Burt, a mesothelioma specialist at Baylor University and the study co-author. “And what our data show is that delivery of these immunotherapy particles, regionally, to these mice that have mesothelioma, has very provocative and very effective treatment responses.”
Continuous Drug Dosage Is Critical
The key, according to authors, is the ability to produce the continuous drug doses alongside the tumors. Immunotherapy drugs by themselves have shown only sporadic effectiveness for patients when given systemically. They have worked especially well only for a small percentage of patients.
“We’ve been working on this technology for a while,” Veiseh said. “This combination does a more effective job of using the immune system to kill the tumors.”
It was Veiseh’s earlier work using his technology with ovarian cancer at Rice University that first caught the attention of Burt and Dr. Ravi Ghanta at Baylor.
“They were really impressed by the preclinical data we had in ovarian cancer,” Veiseh said. “And they asked the question, ‘Could we actually leverage the same system for mesothelioma?’”
The answer came with the mice model, which is leading to clinical trials.
In addition to showing potential to eliminate tumors, this early study suggests that the drug combination and its delivery method also could be effective at training T cells to reactivate the immune system when mesothelioma recurrence occurs.
“I’ve not seen these mesothelioma tumors in mice be eradicated – with such efficacy – as we have in this mice model,” Burt said. “The local delivery of relatively high doses of immunotherapy to that pleural space is a very attractive way to treat this disease.”