Hope for a Cure

The advances in research is promising new hope that a cure could someday be found for mesothelioma, currently a deadly and incurable form of cancer. Although no long-term treatment or cure has been found, short term breakthroughs have increased the average survival rate and lengthened the survival rate of some past the five year mark.

Recent Development for a Cure

The Sydney Morning Herald recently reported on the results of tests on mice where the test mice was injected with mesothelioma cells. A treatment called coramsine, a chemotherapy drug was then administered. Coramsine is still under development, but is offering hope.

Richard Lake, University of Western Australian researcher, reported that the injected mouse actually went on to recover from mesothelioma after being given the treatment along with immune boosting drugs. The mouse not only recovered from the cancer, it rejected attempts of a tumor re-growth.

Dr Lake has stated that the combination of immune system boosting drugs and coramsine has shown extremely promising results so far, and that this can hopefully be applied to human treatment in the future.

Combining these drugs with current treatments like surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possible, even removing a lung, and radiation of the cancer cells, produce more positive results.