Gene Therapy and Mesothelioma Cancer
New Mesothelioma Cancer Treatment Option in Clinical Trials
Oct 30, 2009
Gene therapy is one of many experimental mesothelioma cancer treatment options which are currently being researched (and can broadly include immunotherapy, anti-angiogenesis drugs and a host of other options). While currently in clinical trial stages, gene therapy is showing promise as a possible method for controlling mesothelioma tumor growth.
What is Gene Therapy?
Put simply, gene therapy is either the alteration or replacement of existing genes or the introduction of new genes into the body for the purpose of treating disease. Genes, which are individual units of DNA controlling specified functions within the body, often malfunction when a disease, such as cancer, occurs.
The central premise underlying gene therapy is this: to treat a disease cause by a genetic malfunction, one must identify the faulty gene and treat the genetic flaw. While there are a number of different methods of gene therapy which scientists are currently researching, most of them involve the use of vectors to deliver genetic material within the body. Of those methods in clinical trials which utilize vectors for genetic delivery, modified viruses are used by most as the vector of choice.
Gene Therapy and Malignant Mesothelioma
According to the Mesothelioma Center, mesothelioma is a multifactoral disorder, which means it is caused both by faulty genes which are inherited and genes which malfunction as a result of environmental factors. With regard to mesothelioma cancer, it is usually asbestos exposure which causes malignancy, though some studies have shown that smoking might also play a role in the development of mesothelioma tumors.
The fact that mesothelioma is a multifactoral disorder makes it extremely difficult to treat, as both the identification of all the faulty genes involved and the successful delivery of corrective genetic information to all faulty genes must be accomplished.
Gene Therapy for Mesothelioma Cancer Using "Suicide Genes"
One method of gene therapy which is currently being studied uses altered genes researchers hope will leave malignant cells vulnerable to being killed by administered drugs.
This is how it works: targeted mesothelioma cancer cells are "infected" with a vector (created from virus cells) which contains genetic information making the mesothelioma cancer cells vulnerable to treatment. After the vectors have been introduced into the body (and hopefully into the malignant mesothelioma tumors), scientists then administer a drug, developed to attack the introduced vector (which looks like a virus to the anti-viral drug).
The hope is that, by infecting malignant mesothelioma cells with genetically modified vectors, mesothelioma cancer cells can be killed using targeted drugs, thus attacking mesothelioma at the source.
While there are current clinical trials underway studying such methods which are showing signs of hope, gene therapy has not yet reached a stage of development making it a reliable form of treatment.
For expanded scientific data on the information contained in this section, visit the Mesothelioma Center.
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