Cancer specialists at Australia’s Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital have been conducting research focused on new and different ways of treating the asbestos-caused mesothelioma cancer, a fatal disease that kills over 700 Australian’s each year.
Researchers tested a drug known as Imiquimod, a cream that is generally applied directly to the skin as a means of treating skin cancer, to discern whether or not it could also be successful in treating mesothelioma. Researchers applied Imiquimod to lab mice who had advanced mesothelioma tumors, and, in addition, also administered another anti-cancer drug known as antiCD40. Approximately half of the lab mice who received the combination of Imiquimod and antiCD40 were “cured,” according to Dr. Andrew Currie, an Immunologist at Gairdner Hospital.
Dr. Currie called their discovery a “major breakthrough,” and stated that the Imiquimod and antiCD40 duo were an “attractive combination” for treating asbestos cancer.
Dr. Currie also stated that the safety of both Imiquimod and antiCD40 “has already been investigated.”
Imiquimod is an “immune response modifier” that is often marketed under the name Aldara or Beselna and has long been used to treat certain types of skin cancer. Approved by the FDA in 1997, Imiquimod has many undesirable side effects, including blisters and blackened skin, which generally disappear after patients conclude their treatment. In scientific terms, Imiquimod triggers immune cells by reacting with the receptor known as TLR7 to stimulate macrophages, B-lymphocytes, and “natural killer cells,” all of which work together to fight cancerous cells.
AntiCD40 is an anti-cancer drug that, when injected into lab mice, has been shown to reduce cancerous tumors.
Professor Steve Broomfield of the University of WA in Australia enthusiastically stated that the Imiquimod and antiCD40 duo could, at the very least, “double survival times” for mesothelioma patients.
Officials at the National Centre for Asbestos Related Disease (NCARD) in Australia are hopeful that this new treatment combination will “revolutionize” mesothelioma treatment within the next few years.
Mesothelioma.com acknowledges the discovery of this new treatment combination and calls for continued mesothelioma cancer treatment research worldwide.
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