Top Five Experimental Mesothelioma Treatments

Largely thanks to improved radiation, chemotherapy, and surgical treatments, the overall cancer survival rate has improved significantly since the 1990s. However, several issues, mostly diagnosis issues, have kept the mesothelioma survival rate extremely low.

Mesothelioma has about a 50-year latency period. Most of these asbestos poisoning victims are sick for decades before they show any outward signs of lung cancer, such as trouble breathing and dry coughing. When mesothelioma victims have such symptoms, it usually means the cancer is at least Stage II, having spread from the mesothelium (membrane lying) to the lung itself. At this stage, even the best chemotherapy, radiation, and surgical treatments do not do much good.

Several cutting-edge cancer treatments show promise for mesothelioma victims, even if they’re in Stage II or III. These treatments may be effective, but they have safety issues and, above all, cost issues. A nationwide mesothelioma lawyer connects these victims with doctors who are ready, willing, and able to use experimental treatments, if needed, to fight the victim’s cancer. More importantly, a nationwide mesothelioma lawyer forces the party that caused the exposure to pay for these treatments.

Usually, surgeons try to remove cancerous tumors. When tumors get too big, such surgery is impossible. However, it is much easier to place tiny metal particles into large tumors. That is the basis for NCHaT (noninvasive cancer heat treatment).

Doctors use radio waves to heat up tiny metals that are implanted in cancerous tissue. Gold nanoparticles or carbon nanotubes are the most likely candidates. Several promising preclinical trials have been conducted.

A similar method, Tumor Treating Fields, has already reached a clinical trial stage in many countries. Quite simply, the doctor electrocutes the tumor. Successful trials have shown the process to be more effective than chemotherapy, with no side effects and only negligible time spent away from normal daily activities.

Because most malignant cells rely on the activity of the protein telomerase for their immortality, doctors believe that a drug that inactivates telomerase might be effective against a broad spectrum of malignancies. At the same time, most healthy tissues in the body express little, if any, telomerase and would function normally in its absence. One drug, inositol hexaphosphate, is already undergoing testing in cancer research due to its telomerase-inhibiting abilities.

This field is the study of heritable changes in gene activity that are not caused by changes in the DNA sequence, often a result of environmental or dietary damage to the histone receptors within the cell. Current research has shown that epigenetic pharmaceuticals could supplement or even replace therapy for currently accepted treatment methods such as radiation and chemotherapy.

Human alpha-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells is a molecular complex derived from human breast milk that kills tumor cells by a process resembling programmed cell death (apoptosis). The process has been successfully tested in humans with skin papillomas and bladder cancer.

Some forms of anaerobic bacteria, such as Clostridium novyi, consume the interior of oxygen-poor tumors. A major problem has been that bacteria do not consume all parts of the malignant tissue. However, combining the therapy with chemotherapeutic treatments can help to solve this problem.

Another strategy is to use anaerobic bacteria that have been transformed with an enzyme that can convert a non-toxic prodrug into a toxic drug. With the proliferation of the bacteria in the necrotic and hypoxic areas of the tumor, the enzyme is expressed solely in the tumor. Thus, a systemically applied prodrug is metabolized to the toxic drug only in the tumor.

Mesothelioma victims need and deserve significant compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced nationwide mesothelioma lawyer, contact the Throneberry Law Group. Virtual, home, and hospital visits are available.