Clinical Trials for Mesothelioma Treatment: What to Expect

What are Clinical Trials?

A clinical trial is a study using human participants to test novel therapies, treatment procedures, and medications. Treatment is administered to a select group of people, and researchers monitor the results. Researchers use this information to establish the safety and effectiveness of that treatment for a given disorder. For clinical trials related to mesothelioma, the process usually involves a “testing out” of a given chemotherapy drug.

There are definitely risks to clinical trial participation. Treatments studied are experimental, and the purpose of the trial is to determine both treatment safety and effectiveness. However, for people with an aggressive cancer like mesothelioma, the risks are often considered worth the potential benefits.

Risks and Benefits of Participating in Clinical Trials

While participating in clinical trials to help further medical knowledge is altruistic, it is not realistic. The real motivation for participation is to benefit from a novel treatment or intervention. This is especially important for patients with an incurable disease, like late-stage mesothelioma. If you are living with this cancer, you may have little hope of a cure. However, one of those small hopes may be through a clinical trial. Although rare, it is possible the intervention being tested will provide a cure for the disease.

There are also risks involved with clinical trial participation. These are drugs and treatments have not yet been tested on people. The participants are essentially human guinea pigs. However, there are protections in place, including informed consent. Participants must be provided with all necessary information before agreeing to participate in the study. There are also institutional review boards that monitor and approve studies. This ensures clinical trials  proceed in an ethical way.

Even with these measures in place, there are risks. For instance, you may not even get to try the new treatment. Randomized, blind studies only assign the novel treatment to some participants. Other risks are related to the newness of the intervention. There may be side effects and complications no one has yet foreseen.

Examples of Mesothelioma Clinical Trials

To find clinical trials, talk to your oncologist and other members of your medical team. Your doctors will likely know where to find a clinical trial in your area. They may be able to get you started, helping fill out application paperwork to get the ball rolling.You can also search clinical trials listed by the National Institutes of Health. Search for trials actively recruiting mesothelioma patients.

One trial currently seeking mesothelioma patients is testing a drug called atezolizumab. This drug has been approved by the FDA for other types of cancer, including lung cancer.  However, researchers need more opportunities to study its effect on mesothelioma. Atezolizumab works by targeting protein in the body that prevents the immune system from attacking cancer cells. It is an immunotherapy drug, a promising new class of medications being used to treat cancer.

Another exciting new clinical trial recruiting mesothelioma patients is investigating the use of the measles virus to treat pleural mesothelioma. The measles virus is genetically modified and has shown the ability to kill cancer cells in laboratory cultures. If injected into human subjects, the altered virus has the potential to attack and kill cancer cells.

VISTA Protein Clinical Trials

Researchers from Curis, Inc. are currently operating a phase I clinical trial for a new drug called CA-170. This is the first drug to target the checkpoint protein VISTA, which is strongly expressed in mesothelioma tumors. The drug also targets PD-L1, another checkpoint protein. The drug is designed to interfere with the interaction between these proteins in cancer cells and matching proteins on immune system T-cells. When the interaction is prevented, the immune cells can be triggered to attack the cancer cells. The current trial is accepting mesothelioma patients for a separate cohort.

Nivolumab and Ipilimumab Clinical Trials

A combination of the immunotherapy drugs nivolumab and ipilimumab is currently being tested in a phase III clinical trial in several locations in the U.S. The trial follows earlier studies that showed progress in treating patients with mesothelioma. While there are side effects possible, there is also great promise that this combination can trigger the immune system to kill cancer cells and trigger a stop or even reduction in tumor growth and size.

Durvalumab Clinical Trials

Mesothelioma patients with the pleural, nonresectable form of the cancer are currently participating in clinical trials with the immunotherapy drug durvalumab. The drug targets proteins on the surface of cancer cells, effectively allowing the immune system to recognize them as harmful. The immune cells can then destroy more cancer cells. The trials include the use of durvalumab along with chemotherapy and with another immunotherapy drugs. Some of the results of these trials have been promising, and if they continue to go well durvalumab could become an approved drug for managing mesothelioma.

Discuss Options with Your Doctors

If you are hoping to participate in a clinical trial for treating any type of mesothelioma, be sure you understand the risks. Always talk to your medical team before deciding to to participate in any experimental treatment. You need to be sure you are eligible, and you are willing to take the risks associated with an untested medical treatment. For many mesothelioma patients, this is an easy choice. Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer with no known cure. Therefore, seeking a clinical trial with a novel treatment is often a smart option. Talk to your doctors and family members before making a final decision.