Professor Kieren Harvey from Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Victoria, Australia, has received a Worldwide Cancer Research Grant of more than $500,000 to study a promising new treatment for mesothelioma. Professor Harvey and his team will study a new class of drugs targeting the Hippo pathway, which plays a key role in controlling how cells grow and divide.
Mesothelioma Research to Focus on TEAD Inhibitor Drugs and Resistance Mechanisms
Mesothelioma is a rare and deadly form of cancer that has been extremely resistant to traditional treatment. Though various innovative approaches are being tested, one of the most exciting is the development of drugs to target the Hippo pathway, a crucial signaling network that regulates organ size, tissue regeneration, and cell fate. The pathway generally acts as a tumor suppressor, but researchers have determined that when this pathway is disrupted, it can lead to cancer. Professor Harvey’s project aims to better understand how drugs targeting this pathway work and how mesothelioma cells may become resistant to them.
“Mesothelioma is a devastating disease, and current therapies only help a small number of patients,” Professor Harvey explained about the asbestos-related cancer. “We urgently need new and more effective treatments, and Hippo pathway drugs are one of the most promising new approaches in this space.” Harvey is a key practitioner and researcher at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Australia’s only public health service dedicated exclusively to caring for people affected by cancer. His mesothelioma research is considered critical given the disease’s prevalence in the country, the extremely limited treatment options, and low survival rates.
Mesothelioma Clinical Trials Already Underway for TEAD Inhibitor Drugs
Professor Harvey’s mesothelioma research team works closely with Vivace Therapeutics, a U.S.-based company that’s developing drugs that block the TEAD proteins that are the key drivers of the Hippo pathway. First-in-human clinical trials of these drugs, focused on treating the asbestos-related cancer, were conducted in 2021 at Peter Mac and seven other sites. “Seeing these drugs reach clinical trials has been incredibly exciting,” Professor Harvey said about the mesothelioma treatment progress. “But to get the best results for patients, we need to understand exactly how they work and why some cancers stop responding to them.”
The newly funded mesothelioma research will focus on three main questions: How TEAD inhibitors affect how TEAD proteins bind to cancer cell DNA, how they change gene activity inside a tumor’s cells, and how mesothelioma cells may become resistant to the drugs over time. “This grant allows us to dig deeper into the biology behind these treatments,” Professor Harvey explained. “By understanding how therapy resistance develops, we can design better strategies to make these drugs work for longer and for more patients” with mesothelioma. The $500,000 grant comes from Worldwide Cancer Research, a UK-based charity that funds pioneering, discovery-stage research into all types of cancer.
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, news of ongoing research offers real hope for better outcomes in the future. For more information on exciting discoveries, treatments, and other resources, contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net today at 1-800-692-8608.
