Mesothelioma and Cancer Gene Therapy

One interesting study is called, "Preoperative Evaluation of Patients With Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma: Role of Integrated CT-PET Imaging" by Truong, Mylene T. MD; Marom, Edith M. MD; Erasmus, Jeremy J. MD - Journal of Thoracic Imaging: May 2006 - Volume 21 - Issue 2 - pp 146-153 Symposia.  Here is an excerpt: "Abstract - Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an uncommon neoplasm arising from mesothelial cells of the pleura. The prognosis is poor with a median survival of 8 to 18 months after diagnosis. Multimodality regimens combining chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, and surgery are being used more frequently in patient management. Extrapleural pneumonectomy is the surgical treatment of choice in 10% to 15% of patients who present with resectable disease and is reported to prolong survival. Accurate staging is important to distinguish patients who are resectable from those requiring palliative therapy. Integrated computed tomography-positron emission tomography (CT-PET) increases the accuracy of overall staging in patients with MPM and significantly improves the selection of patients for curative surgical resection. Specifically, CT-PET detects more extensive disease involvement than that shown by other imaging modalities and is particularly useful in identifying occult distant metastases. This article reviews aspects of imaging performed in the initial staging of patients with MPM according to the International Mesothelioma Interest Group staging system and will emphasize the appropriate role of CT-PET imaging in determining the T, N, and M descriptors."

Another study is called, "SV40 expression in human neoplastic and non-neoplastic tissues: perspectives on diagnosis, prognosis and therapy of human malignant mesothelioma." By Procopio A, Marinacci R, Marinetti MR, Strizzi L, Paludi D, Iezzi T, Tassi G, Casalini A, Modesti A. Dev Biol Stand. 1998;94:361-7. Department of Oncology and Neuroscience, Gabriele D'Annunzio University, Chieti, Italy.  Here is an excerpt: "Abstract - We have recently demonstrated the association of SV40 and human pleural malignant mesothelioma. Here, we have investigated whether SV40 viral sequences may be associated with other human tumours or other non-neoplastic pathology and whether SV40 DNA or protein expression may be of diagnostic, prognostic or therapeutic relevance. DNA was extracted from paraffin embedded tissues. SV40, JC and BK viral sequences were detected by the polymerase chain reaction and molecular hybridization with specific probes. The screening with three different sets of SV40-related primers demonstrated that 7/18 (38.8%) mesothelioma specimens were SV40 positive as well as 5/18 (27.7%) tubercular pleural lesions. None of the 18 lung cancers, nor the 20 pleural non-specific inflammatory specimens tested were positive. Twenty-five blood samples and 18 urinary sediments from MM patients were also negative. We have also found that SV40 Tag proteins are present in mesothelioma cells and tumours. Tag proteins may interfere with tumour suppressor gene products, such as p53. Preliminary results suggest that wild type p53 transgene expression, obtained after infection with recombinant adenovirus (AdCMV.p53), inhibited in vitro and in vivo proliferation, inducing apoptosis of mesothelioma cells. Infections with control viruses were ineffective. Thus, SV40 DNA and Tag expression in mesothelioma tumour cells, though probably not relevant for diagnostic or prognostic purposes, may be crucial for innovative gene therapy strategies."

Another study is called, "Immunohistochemical reactivity in mesothelioma and adenocarcinoma: A stepwise logistic regression analysis" by Annika Dejmek, Anders Hjerpe - 1994 Acta Pathologica, Microbiologica et Immunologica Scandinavica – APMIS Volume 102, Issue 1-6, pages 255–264, January 1994.  Here is an excerpt: "Histological sections from 103 malignant mesotheliomas and 43 adenocarcinoma metastases in pleural biopsies were investigated for reactivity against a panel of 11 different antibodies. The size of the material allowed the evaluation by stepwise logistic regression analysis, which selected five parameters of major importance: vimentin reactivity in epithelial cells, reactivity to low-molecular-weight keratins in fibrous cells, strong membrane accentuation of EM A reactivity, and lack of reactivity to LeuM1 and BerEp4. Three of these criteria were sufficient to identify a mesothelioma with high specificity and with a sensitivity of approximately 70%. Whilst the monoclonal anti-CEA tested was the most valuable single parameter, it did not add any diagnostic information to the combination of criteria selected by the stepwise logistic regression analysis. However, this antibody can be used to exclude most of the adenocarcinomas from further analysis with the more extensive panel."

If you found any of these excerpts interesting, please read the studies in their entirety.