A study recently published in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics reported improvement in mesothelioma remission rates using the genetically modified Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) in test tubes and animal testing.
Malignant mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Approximately 2,000 to 3,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with the cancer each year. Similar to other asbestos-related diseases, mesothelioma has a severe latency period in terms of the development of symptoms. In most cases, patients with mesothelioma will not experience symptoms until at least 20 years have passed since their initial exposure to asbestos.
Due to the long latency period associated with the cancer, the disease has usually progressed to later stages of development by the time of diagnosis. Unfortunately, most symptoms of mesothelioma are also found in less serious lung conditions. This complication can lead to a wrong diagnosis or a delay in accurate diagnosis. The later the cancer is diagnosed, the more difficult it is to treat.
The rare cancer does not respond well to current mesothelioma treatment methods and researchers across the world have conducted many studies in an effort to better understand the disease and develop more effective treatments.
Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) is an “oncolytic virus,” which is a virus capable of targeting and entering cancerous cells. These viruses can be genetically modified to enter cancer cells and cause them to die. This study successfully induced mesothelioma remission in a test tube using NDV.
Additionally, when tested on animals (called an “in vivo” study) researchers found, “In vivo studies with MSTO-211H* cells showed complete response to viral therapy in 65% of the animals within 14 days after treatment initiation. Long-term survival in all of these animals was >50 days after tumor installation.” The control animals that received no NDV therapy survived less than 23 days.
Researchers also noted that multiple treatments with NDV produced a significantly better response than a single treatment. Authors of the study concluded, “NDV seems to be an efficient viral oncolytic agent in the therapy of malignant pleural mesothelioma in an orthotopic pleural mesothelioma tumor model.”
Additional information on mesothelioma may be found through the mesothelioma Center.