Raleigh, NC (PRWEB) January 20, 2015

Some mesothelioma patients may benefit from treatment with an FDA-approved lymphoma drug, according to the authors of a new study. Surviving Mesothelioma has the full story on its website. Click here to read it now.

Based on the success of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) in treating certain types of lymphoma, researchers at Case Western Reserve University tested its ability to destroy mesothelioma cells that express a protein called CD30.

“Brentuximab vedotin treatment of cultured mesothelioma cells produced a dose-dependent decrease in cell growth and viability at clinically relevant concentrations,” writes author and hematologist Afshin Dowlati, MD.

In an article in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, Dr. Dowlati and his colleagues found that brentuximab vedotin works by targeting CD30, a protein that helps regulate cell death (apoptosis).

“Given the limited effectiveness of current mesothelioma treatment options, the ability of brentuximab vedotin to kill certain mesothelioma cells in the lab is very encouraging news,” says Alex Strauss, Managing Editor of Surviving Mesothelioma.

For more on how brentuximab vedotin may work to target mesothelioma cells, see Lymphoma Drug May Fight Mesothelioma, Too, now available on the Surviving Mesothelimoa website.

Dabir, S et al, “CD30 is a potential therapeutic target in malignant mesothelioma,” January 14, 2015, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, Epub ahead of print, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25589494

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