New Lung Cancer Clinical Trial Could Identify Novel Therapy for Stopping Pleural Mesothelioma From Spreading

Last week MesotheliomaHelp reported on a research team that is using epigenetics as a new approach to finding a way to stop metastasis. Researchers know that halting metastasis is critical for increasing survival in mesothelioma patients, but the cancer cells continue to evade even the most promising treatments. Now, one researcher hopes a drug being tested for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) will be a breakthrough treatment for halting cancer metastasis in lung cancer patients.

N.C. State cell biologist Dr. Kenneth Adler developed, and has dedicated countless years of research, on a drug to treat chronic bronchitis and asthma by fighting inflammation. However, he discovered years ago that it is also effective in helping stop tumor growth in lung cancer. Interest in the drug started gaining traction last summer when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved what is now known as BIO-11006 for use in human adult lung cancer clinical trials, and for compassionate use in children with certain types of aggressive cancer.

In January, Biomarck Pharmaceuticals announced the start of its phase II clinical trial in India for thedrug that is a MARCKS protein inhibitor. The trial is designed to evaluate the use of BIO-11006 in combination with pemetrexed and carboplatin, compared to pemetrexed and carboplatin used without the drug. Pemetrexed and carboplatin are frequently used to treat both lung cancer and mesothelioma.

The drug works by slowing movement of cells into unwanted areas, helping to fight inflammation. The drug targets the MARCKS protein, known to stimulate cell division and movement in lung cancer, but leaves healthy cells unaffected.

Pleural mesothelioma, a pulmonary cancer caused by past asbestos exposure, and lung cancer are among the most difficult cancers to treat. The cancers are aggressive and quickly metastasize leaving patients with limited treatment options. BIO-11006, in effect, slows the movement of cells halting metastasis or growth to other areas of the body. Mesothelioma patients, often treated with the same protocol as lung cancer, will be keeping a close eye on this trial.

“To think this could actually help people—save lives—is pretty humbling,” said Dr. Adler in a  UNC-TV interview last year. “I consider myself one of the fortunate scientists in which something I developed in my laboratory can actually save lives, and that’s the overriding goal.”

Mesothelioma is caused by the inhalation or ingestion of airborne asbestos fibers. In the case of pleural mesothelioma, the fibers lodge deep in tissue surrounding the lungs, causing inflammation that festers for years. Chronic, persistent inflammation is a known cause of cancer, and in the case of mesothelioma, can take decades to develop into a malignancy. Attacking the inflammation could lead to a new treatment for this painful, deadly cancer, and hope that mesothelioma growth will be slowed or stopped all together.

The trial is not yet listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.

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