Mesothelioma Faq

What is gene therapy and how does it work?
Gene therapy is one possible treatment of mesothelioma cancer. By replacing, removing, or otherwise altering the expression of a person’s genes, the disease is treated on a cellular level. The overall aim of gene therapy is to help compensate for abnormal genes, and to possibly introduce healthy, functional genes into the patient.

How does replacement gene therapy work?
Replacement gene therapy helps to eradicate, or displace mutated genes – those which are often responsible for cancerous tumor growth - and replaces them with normal copies of those genes. These healthy gene “copies” potentially help to control cell growth and division. The most known and common gene altered in cancer is the “p53 gene.”

This specific gene has proven to be a successful ally in the treatment of this disease. Consequently, when p53 genes are altered or replaced with healthy genes, they have been successful in: preventing abnormal cell growth, stopping angiogenesis (the development of a tumor’s blood supply), and have also aided in apoptosis (the eradication, or controlled “cell death” of cancerous cells).

How does knockout gene therapy work?
Knockout gene therapy aims at the products of oncogenes (genes that can stimulate the formation of a cancerous tumor). The goal in this type of gene therapy is to render the cancerous cells inactive, while also decreasing the growth of cancerous cells.

How does immunotherapy work?
Immunotherapy – which is also called biological therapy - is a new procedure in the fight against mesothelioma cancers. The treatment employs the patient’s own immune system to fight the disease by stimulating it to repair itself. The hope with this treatment is to trigger, or improve, the innate, anti-cancerous ability which already exists in the body.

Medical Researchers have discovered that the body’s immune system is able to identify the difference between healthy cells and those with mesothelioma cancers. Consequently, when immunotherapy is effective, it ignores the good - or healthy - cells, and only destroys the bad cells containing the mesothelioma cancer.

What is VATS?
Another recent asset in the fight against mesothelioma employs the use of “video-assisted thoracic surgery” (VATS). This procedure has now turned into one of the most commonly used techniques in mesothelioma diagnosis. The patient is typically put under general anesthesia, and several small incisions are cut through the wall of the chest. Next, a scope containing a small camera is inserted into one of the incisions, so doctors have a clearer view of any areas which are potentially infected with mesothelioma. Finally, specimens or samples are retrieved from the patient to be tested for cancer.

Consequently – due to its more minimally invasive qualities - VATS is now replacing previously used techniques like the thoractomy. In a thoractomy, a larger opening in the body had to be created to gain clear access to the chest cavity. While the thoractomy is still used to diagnose certain types of mesothelioma, the VATS procedure is preferable due to its helping patients experience less pain and recover more quickly.