The War on Mesothelioma: Researchers Announce Promising Results of Mesothelin-Based Immunotherapy

Researchers Announce Promising Results of Mesothelin Based Immunotherapy

A joint venture between researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the National Cancer Institute has produced some promising results that could lead to more effective treatments for mesothelioma and other cancers.

In a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers used genetically modified T cells to target mesothelin, a protein that becomes highly expressed in a variety of cancers.

Mesothelin is normally isolated to mesothelial cells which serve as the protective lining for the body's internal organs. In many forms of cancer including mesothelioma, ovarian cancer and pancreatic cancer, it becomes overly expressed which is thought to play a role how those cancers grow and metastasize.

Since tumor cells are derivatives of normal body cells, it can be difficult for the immune system to recognize them and work to control them. Furthermore many molecules found on cancer cells are also found on normal cells which can nullify genetically altered cells that target specific cancer molecules. Mesothelin however has such limited expression that it may serve as an excellent candidate for genetically engineered therapies.

Previous studies in both humans and animals have shown that antibodies targeting the mesothelin protein can shrink tumors but the new study used genetically altered T cells to target mesothelin.

Researchers injected human mesothelioma cells into a set of mice then waited approximately six weeks for the tumors to develop before injecting the genetically modified T cells.

The process of creating mesothelin-targeting T cells began by using a modified virus to transfer synthetic genes to T cells that directed them to produce proteins that recognize and bind to mesothelin. These proteins then directed the movement and cell-killing activity of the cells and when they were exposed to mesothelin they produced cytokines, proteins that help regulate immune system function while expressing proteins that insulated them from the toxic effects of the tumors and their surrounding tissue.

Related: Immunotherapy for mesothelioma

The result of the experiment showed a decrease in tumor volume or in some cases a complete disappearance. Early results indicate that just one T cell was able to kill about 40 cancer cells and now scientists have begun to plan clinical trials for people with mesothelioma and ovarian cancer.

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