Mesothelioma News: New Clinical Trials – Tampa

Mesothelioma News: New Mesothelioma Clinical Trials – Tampa

The mesothelioma program at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida opened two (2) new clinical trials. The phase II trials are made as second stage therapies. They provide options that have shown positive results and success when used with other types of cancer.

The two (2) new clinical trials are exploring effectiveness of:

• Transarterial chemoperfusion treatment
• Mesothelin-targeting, antibody drug anetumab ravtansine

While this breakthrough is in the fore, the center will continue its role of immunotherapy drug CRS-207. The trial increases the drug’s ability to promote a patient’s immune system when fighting unresectable mesothelioma. The results of the immunotherapy drug CRS-207 are said to be promising and will be made available through publishing.

Chemoperfusion vs Mesothelioma

The Moffitt Cancer Center pioneers the chemoperfusion treatment and have doctors from Germany and Egypt conducting such treatment since 2013.  The center is the first to focus on chemoperfusion for mesothelioma. The procedure focuses on targeting specific blood vessels that feed on the mesothelioma tumors, thereafter blasting these mesothelioma tumors with various chemotherapy treatments to slow down or stop the tumor growth. This procedure reduces the spread of the disease to the rest of the body and reduces chances of the weakening and draining effects of mesothelioma to the patient.

The German and Egyptian cancer centers reported the following progress of using the chemoperfusion treatment in patients:

• 36% tumor reduction
• 49% achieved stable disease

While chemoperfusion may not be a cure to cancer it does help in a large way with slowing down the disease’s progress.

The center also unveiled its Mesothelioma Research and Treatment Center in 2012 focused on researching and treating mesothelioma through clinical trials. The hospital staff that are treating mesothelioma are:

• Dr Fontain – Thoracic Surgeon and Director of the Moffitt Mesothelioma Center
• Dr T. Tanvetyanon – Moffitt Medical Oncologist and Mesothelioma Specialist
• Dr L. Robinson – Thoracic Surgeon
• Dr S. Antonia – Immunologist and Head of Thoracic Oncology