by Nancy Meredith
Developing a new, effective treatment for mesothelioma is not a project that is undertaken lightly. The costs and effort that go into the work are tremendous for even the largest pharmaceutical companies. But for smaller companies the costs can be prohibitive. One Swedish company, however, is confident in its latest research and is actively seeking investors to help fund development of a novel therapy targeting both pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma.
The research project's goal is to find effective mesothelioma treatments based on the genetic traits of the patient's tumor while eliminating side effects that many mesothelioma patients often experience with chemotherapy.
In a project that could ultimately cost over $21 million, lead researcher Stefan Nilsson, PhD., Associate Professor and Senior Project Manager of Karo Bio, is in the midst of developing a synthetic non-steroidal compound that selectively targets the estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) for treatment of mesothelioma.
In information sent to MesotheliomaHelp.net, Dr. Nilsson and colleague Laura Moro, PhD., Associate Professor and Research group Leader in "Applied Biology" at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Piemonte Orientale, Italy, discussed their project. They are building their research on previous studies by Dr. Moro's group that found that ERβ is an important biomarker and "its expression is a prognostic marker for successful outcome of pleural mesothelioma." In addition, the unusually long survival of a woman with peritoneal mesothelioma was suggested to be attributable to the expression of ERβ in her tumor tissue.
In "Development of subtype-selective oestrogen receptor-based therapeutics," Nilsson notes that expression of ERβ in tissue samples from patients with mesothelioma was considered to be a prognostic factor of "longer survival."
Nilsson and Moro have completed initial studies that have shown that the compound suppresses human mesothelioma cell growth in culture and also reduces tumor size in an animal mesothelioma model.The scientists' next step is a pre-clinical in vivo study with the objective to benchmark the compound against existing first line clinical therapy of malignant pleural mesothelioma. They will also study the anti-tumorigenic efficacy of combining the compound with cisplatin and pemetrexed.
Nilsson noted that the current primary combination chemotherapy treatment of cisplatin and pemetrexed administered to mesothelioma patients may be combined with this ERβ drug. He suggests that the clinical dose of the chemotherapy can thus be decreased when used with the new compound. This should limit the side effects many mesothelioma patients often experience with chemotherapy.
The ERβ compound, which would be administered as a daily pill, "is a class of compound that should have greatly reduced toxicity compared to current mesothelioma chemotherapy treatment options," said Nilsson in an email to MesotheliomaHelp.net.
As researchers and physicians move towards targeted therapies, this compound takes mesothelioma specialists one step closer to offering treatment based on a patient's unique tumor genetic characteristics. Nilsson notes that ERβ expression is related to epithelioid mesothelioma that represents the most common and treatable histological subtype of mesothelioma, which is diagnosed in more than half of all mesothelioma diagnoses.
Mesothelioma is a unique cancer affecting the lining of the lungs, and other organs. The disease is causally linked to past exposure to asbestos. Treatment varies for the disease, depending on the stage of the cancer, but physicians most often rely on chemotherapy. Although chemotherapy, surgery and radiation may offer relief of symptoms, to date, there is no known cure for mesothelioma.
Karo Bio is a Swedish pharmaceutical company that develops innovative drugs for key medical needs. The company focuses on nuclear receptors, which control biological processes at the genetic level.
We are hopeful that this promising research will lead to a new treatment for combating mesothelioma.
If you are interested in funding this latest, innovative mesothelioma research, please contact Dr. Stefan Nilsson directly at stefan.nilsson@karobio.se.
