Research & Clinical Trials News

A drug used to treat bone disease and high blood calcium levels may carry benefits as part of a combination treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma, a recent study concluded. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center conducted a pilot study testing the effects of zoledronic acid — a bisphosphonate, or bone…

Dr. Tawee Tanvetyanon at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa rarely sounds this enthused about the future prospects for patients with pleural mesothelioma. Finally, he has something promising to offer. Tanvetyanon is the principal investigator of a much-anticipated phase II clinical trial involving an immunotherapy drug combination with considerable potential for extending survival. “This is…

New research from scientists in Germany sheds more light on the unusually long latency period associated with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. The study, published earlier this year in the European Respiratory Journal, is the first to track the presence of asbestos fibers in lung tissue over time. Mesothelioma has one of the longest latency…

The innovative SMART protocol for treating pleural mesothelioma cancer is on the verge of getting smarter. Doctors at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center in Toronto — where the SMART approach was first used — are designing a new protocol that will incorporate immunotherapy into the high-dose radiation/aggressive surgery mix that has been so successful. It…

Researchers at the University of Hawaii believe they are close to a fix for the genetic mutation that makes certain people more susceptible to developing mesothelioma cancer and more resistant to chemotherapy. Dr. Michele Carbone, director of thoracic oncology at the UH Cancer Center, said the BAP1 genetic mutation his research first uncovered in 2011…

The Seattle Cancer Care Alliance has opened a phase II clinical trial involving durvalumab, the promising immunotherapy drug, in combination with chemotherapy for the first-line treatment of unresectable pleural mesothelioma. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already granted accelerated approval to durvalumab in May for the treatment of bladder cancer. Researchers have also lauded…

A new study from researchers at the City of Hope cancer center in Los Angeles and Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, reveals how the length of time between initial and follow-up cytoreduction surgery and HIPEC plays a role in patient survival. The study, published in June in the Journal of…

Much of mesothelioma research centers on identifying new and noninvasive biomarkers for earlier detection of the asbestos-related cancer. Progress has been made in finding biomarkers in blood and pleural effusions, but researchers in Belgium now believe the next breakthrough in early diagnosis for mesothelioma cancer may be a breath test. Researchers at Ghent University Hospital…

Newly diagnosed mesothelioma patients around the world have begun enrolling in a much-anticipated, phase III clinical trial involving an immunotherapy drug combination with groundbreaking potential. The trial, designed as first-line therapy for unresectable pleural mesothelioma, will measure the effectiveness of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) against standard-of-care chemotherapy. A presentation this month at the 2017…

Economists, physicists and engineers use mathematical models extensively in their respective industries. Now, French researchers are using mathematical modeling as a tool to optimize cancer treatments for mesothelioma patients. In a small phase I clinical trial, researchers at Aix-Marseille University in Marseille, France, determined the approach was a better way to assess the safety and…