Category: Mesothelioma
Researchers Seek to Understand Why Lungs Are Susceptible To Cancer
The body has a cadre of defense mechanisms that work together to fight off illness and diseases. When they fail, however, a person can be left fighting a deadly disease like mesothelioma. Now, researchers believe that the same defense meant to prevent people from having a reaction to breathing in daily environmental exposures could be the same mechanism that allows cancer cells to spread and grow in the lungs.
According to an Aug. 25 press release from the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, researchers report that the oxygen breathed in can suppress immune responses to cancer. They found that oxygen-sensing proteins, or PHD cells, limit inflammation by T-cells, the cells in the immune system that kill bacteria and cancer. In the “highly oxygenated lung microenvironment” the PHDs limit the T-cell functions, thus, setting the lung up as a “fertile ground for metastasis.”
“The same ‘normal’ mechanisms put in place to suppress immune responses against harmless material taken into the body during the act of breathing can also suppress immune responses to the colonizing cancer cells that lead to metastatic tumors in the lungs,” said David Clever, PhD, first author of the manuscript and a current medical student at Ohio State. “This creates an immunologically favorable niche – meaning the environment is prime for cancer cells to slip through the immune system’s defenses, thrive and grow in the lungs.”
The American Cancer Society reports that it is cancer metastasis, and not the original cancer diagnosis itself, that is the cause of nearly all cancer deaths. In fact, 90 percent of all cancer deaths are due to metastasis. Lung cancer and mesothelioma can spread to other organs of the body, including spreading to the other lung.
Mesothelioma, an unusual form of cancer caused by breathing in asbestos fibers, can take decades to show symptoms. Mesothelioma treatment follows a similar treatment protocol to lung cancer, so each new discovery related to lung cancer brings hope to the patient community.
The Ohio State team found that by blocking the PHD proteins, they could enhance T-cell responses against cancer and limit metastasis to the lung. Through testing the theory in mice using adoptive cell transfer immunotherapy, or manipulation and re-injection of T-cells, the researchers were hopeful their findings could lead to new therapies.
“Although our finding is in mice, we are eager to test whether disruption of the oxygen sensing machinery in T cells — with drugs, genetics, or regulation of environmental oxygen — will enhance the efficacy of T-cell mediated immune therapies for cancer in humans.”
2,500 to 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year in the U.S. There is no cure for the cancer, however, immunotherapy treatments, available to limited patients, have shown success in extending survival in mesothelioma patients.
The study can be found in the Aug. 25 issue of the journal Cell.
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Is Watson the Best Approach for Determining Treatment Plans?
Five years ago Watson debuted on Jeopardy! in a matchup with two of the winningest contestants from the show, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. Watson proved why he is a “supercomputer” by handily beating the two at the game. At the time, not many of the viewers envisioned that IBM’s artificial intelligence machine would someday be important to their healthcare. Now, Watson is mainstream in TV commercials asking viewers, “How can I help you?” For a mesothelioma patient, the answer might be, “Find the most effective treatment for me.”
Thanks to a partnership between New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and IBM, Watson Oncology may soon be the go-to reference for oncologists, helping drive cancer care for all patients. Watson Oncology’s primary strength lies in the massive database fed with data from MSKCC on how their doctors treat their cancer patients. While this amount of data is nearly impossible for a doctor to analyze, Watson analyzes and assesses the information quickly, placing incredible knowledge at the doctors fingertips. For patients suffering from mesothelioma, a rare, aggressive cancer with few treatment options, Watson might just be the only way to guide oncologists to finding the best evidence-based treatment protocol.
“We are training Watson so oncologists anywhere will be able to make more specific and nuanced treatment decisions more quickly, based on the latest data,” said an MSKCC spokesperson in response to a comment in an article about Watson.
What is Watson Oncology?
Watson is the result of four years of hard work in IBM’s Grand Challenge: “Can a system be designed that applies advanced data management and analytics to natural language in order to uncover a single, reliable insight in a fraction of a second?” Using Jeopardy! as the ultimate test required IBM to build a machine that can interpret natural or human language that relies on the ability to relate pictures, phrases, figures, slang and nuances.
Since then, Watson has grown into a tool and resource for businesses worldwide. When MSKCC oncologist Mark Kris, MD, William and Joy Ruane Chair in Thoracic Oncology at MSKCC, realized the potential Watson could have on patient care, he led a team to build a database for Watson Oncology that could “revolutionize care and research, accelerating progress for people with cancers.”
MSKCC uses their “world-renowned cancer expertise” to drive Watson Oncology to give oncologists access to “individualized treatment options that are informed by medical evidence and our highly specialized experience.”
“I think this is beyond an evolutionary step,” says Dr. Larry Norton, Deputy Physician-in-Chief for Breast Cancer Programs, MSKCC. “I think this is a revolutionary step.”
In addition to MSKCC’s work with Watson, IBM and MD Anderson Cancer Center have also partnered. The partnership builds on MD Anderson’s oncologists’ knowledge to help drive the center’s Moon Shots program with a goal to “rapidly and dramatically reduce mortality and suffering in cancer.” In much the same as MSKCC’s Watson Oncology, MD Anderson’s Oncology Expert Advisor is expected to provide the medical team “with immediate, worldwide access to MD Anderson’s expertise and resources, and to IBM Watson’s technology prowess in quickly extracting crucial insights from large volumes of complex data.”
Expert Insight
Dr. Larry Norton, MSKCC
“This has the potential of totally changing the way we conduct medicine.”
Watson and Mesothelioma
Having what could become a nearly infinite volume of information instantly available makes Watson incredibly valuable. Using computers to help identify how to treat a complex medical condition, like mesothelioma, can improve survival and the patient’s quality of life. Having the information built by two of the most renowned mesothelioma centers in the world, can only mean excellent care for mesothelioma patients.
MSKCC is the world’s oldest and largest private cancer center, and has a team of specialists including surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists, and nurses who deal exclusively with mesothelioma and other thoracic cancers. They are committed to providing the best possible treatments for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma, and often conduct clinical trials and studies for mesothelioma as they continue to make strides in the treatment of the deadly disease.
The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center works hard at achieving their vision of being the “premier cancer center in the world” through their initiatives in the research and treatment of mesothelioma. The cancer center has over 30 specialists on staff that supports their multi-disciplinary approach to treating mesothelioma patients. Their ongoing research and unique initiatives dedicated to finding a cure for mesothelioma makes them one of the few cancer centers in the world with a comprehensive program.
“Cognitive computing in healthcare allows us to use every step, every heartbeat, every checkup, every gene, every prescription,” according to IBM. “IBM Watson Health is helping transform healthcare and leading us to new insights. Helping keep us all healthier.”
To find out more about how Watson can help you in your mesothelioma care see Watson Oncology on MSKCC’s website, or visit MD Anderson’s Moon Shots Program online.
Researchers Find New Way to Treat KRAS Lung Cancer
In March, MesotheliomaHelp reported that two drugs may be better than one when it comes to treating KRAS-positive lung cancer patients. Now, in a new study, researchers report they have found yet another way to tackle lung cancer when the KRAS gene is present.
In a July 28 press release from UT Southwestern, researchers report that the Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) gene, that is responsible for the most aggressive subtype of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and is found in nearly 30% of all NSCLCs, controls cell division and can drive healthy cells to divide uncontrollably, leading to cancer. The gene is tough and it nearly always fights off treatments building resistance to the drugs.
“Mutant KRAS not only promotes the growth of tumors, but also the survival of established lung cancer,” said Dr. Scaglioni, who leads the Cancer Signaling Laboratory at the Simmons Cancer Center. “Since we have no clinically-relevant effective inhibitors of mutant KRAS at this time, there has been an intense clinical interest in developing a treatment that is proven effective.”
In order to influence the effects of KRAS, the researchers realized they needed to target the ACSL3 gene. The researchers found that it is the ACSL3 gene that keeps cancer cells alive, yet when suppressed, the gene is responsible for cell death. They also found that the ACSL3 gene is “highly expressed” in lung cancer, thus making it critical to find a way to suppress it.
The scientists tested the impact of the ACSL3 gene in the lab using mice and on a human KRAS-positive NSCLC line. In both cases, the researchers proved that “ACSL3 silencing was accompanied by induction of apoptosis,” or cell death. They propose that, “ACSL3 is a target for the development of targeted therapies against mutant KRAS lung cancer.”
“There is an urgent need for discovery of additional targets that inhibit lipid metabolism in cancer cells that could lead to targeted therapies: the discovery of the importance of ACSL3 in lung cancer meets this unmet need,” said Dr. Mahesh S. Padanad, first author of the study.
Although the research was focused on lung cancer, every new breakthrough in cancer research brings hope to mesothelioma patients. Pleural mesothelioma, an asbestos-caused cancer equally as aggressive as NSCLC, is diagnosed in close to 3,000 Americans each year. Currently, there is no cure for the disease and treatments are often considered palliative.
The study was published in the July 26 issue of Cell Reports.
Memories Left Unmade Because of Mesothelioma
For most people my age, going to see your father entails conversing with the man that was always there for you, reminiscing about fond memories and creating new ones. Visiting my Dad used to mean walking into a home filled with his smile, laughter, and charm. It meant spending time with the person who was always there for me, someone who always would be. That was until mesothelioma became a part of our lives.
Now, visiting my father means driving up a long, windy road to the top of a hill. I get out of the vehicle, walk about 50 feet, and gaze upon a black piece of marble. I stop and talk to him, but I get no answer. There is no more of his laughter; that sound now only exists in my memory. Now, spending time with my Dad means going to a cemetery.
As I walk up to the place where we laid him to rest, I am always overcome with emotions that bring me to tears. I think of how much I miss him. I ponder why this had to become his fate. I try to hold back the anger I feel that he ended up with mesothelioma, and how it could have been prevented if only people had been more responsible. I wonder why anyone would take the dangers of asbestos so lightly that they would endanger other’s lives as if they were disposable.
Each and every person who has been a victim of this disease has a story. They have a family and people who love them. They are not nameless faces, they are God’s children. They are more than just a stone, marking where they now lie.
As I stand by my father’s grave, I remember his funeral and the outpouring of love that was present that day. I remember the smile he gave me the last time I saw him, and the last “I love you” over the phone, 45 minutes before he passed away. These are memories that I will always cherish, but I still long for the ones left unmade because of mesothelioma.
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Researchers Report the EGFR Gene Found in Mesothelioma Silences Tumor Suppression Leading to Uncontrolled Growth
The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene has been the focus of researchers for finding new, effective treatments for both lung cancer and mesothelioma patients. The gene, that is overexpressed in more than 50% of pleural mesothelioma patients, and in approximately 15% of lung cancer patients, is one of the primary targets for bringing personalized care to the cancer patients. Now, researchers report they understand just how the gene impacts cancer growth.
Researchers from Yale are referring to the EGFR gene as the “silencer” gene, because, they say, it “silences genes that typically suppress tumors.” The team, led by Narendra Wajapayee, assistant professor of pathology and a member of Yale Cancer Center, report in a June 23 press release, that this critical finding “may lead to the development of more effective, individualized treatment for patients with lung cancer and other cancer types.”
Wajapayee and the team found that EGFR negatively regulated the TET1 protein, important for controlling gene expression and required to suppress tumors, allowing the cancer cells continue to grow and divide.
“EGFR can target multiple unrelated tumor suppressor genes in different cancer types using a common mechanism,” said Wajapayee.
Approximately 2,500 to 3,000 Americans are diagnosed with mesothelioma, an asbestos-caused cancer, each year. Most people diagnosed with mesothelioma are retired workers and veterans who were exposed to asbestos in a workplace or during military service decades ago. The most common form of the cancer is malignant pleural mesothelioma, affecting the lining of the lungs. Disease symptoms can take between 15 and 60 years to appear.
Mesothelioma often resists standard treatments and can build up a resistance to the powerful chemotherapy drugs used to attack the aggressive cancer. Although even targeted EGFR inhibitors can eventually become ineffective, personalized cancer treatment targeted to the unique characteristics of the patient optimizes the potential for success of the treatment.
“The finding informs the future direction of research and treatment of patients who don’t respond or develop resistance to drugs that inhibit EGFR,” said Wajapayee . “It will also help determine how effective cancer therapies will be against different EGFR mutations.”
The results of the study can be found in the June 23 issue of Cell Reports.
Sources:
- Researchers from Yale
http://news.yale.edu/2016/06/23/silencer-study-reveals-how-cancer-gene-promotes-tumor-growth - Cell Reports
http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(16)30700-8
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