There’s no mystery as to how malignant mesothelioma gets its start. The rare and fatal form of cancer is caused by exposure to asbestos, often as a result of negligence on the part of manufacturers, suppliers, and employers. But questions remain about how best to treat the cancer, and why it so successfully evades cancer treatment. A recent study suggests that mesothelioma and other cancer cells may be able to resize themselves in response to cancer drugs.
Study of Cancer Cells May Answer Questions About Mesothelioma
Every type of cancer represents a threat and a challenge, but malignant mesothelioma is particularly resistant to treatment. In a quest to identify how cancer cells protect themselves against chemotherapy and other protocols, researchers from The Institute of Cancer Research in London have found that cancer cells may shrink or supersize themselves in response to those treatments.
Though the scientists did not specifically examine mesothelioma cells, the changes in skin cancer cells that they analyzed were driven by either BRAF gene mutations or NRAS mutations, both of which have been identified in patients with malignant mesothelioma. They believe that differences in size and shape in these cells may be indicative of how patients will respond to cancer treatments, and therefore may be used to tailor how physicians approach each patient’s care.
Small and Large Mesothelioma Cells May Respond Differently to Treatment
The researchers found that BRAF-mutant cancer cells are very small and NRAS-mutant cancer cells are large, and that drug-resistant NRAS cells are even larger. While small cells’ high levels of DNA-repairing protein protect them from DNA damage caused by chemotherapy, they may be more vulnerable to PARP inhibitors that block these proteins. In contrast, the larger NRAS-mutant cancer cells do not repair the damage caused by chemotherapy, but instead contain it. The scientists theorize that these larger cells may be more vulnerable to immunotherapy, which recognizes the larger cells as alien.
Speaking of their findings, study leader Professor Chris Bakal, Professor of Cancer Morphodynamics, said, “We think our research has real diagnostic potential. By looking at cell size, pathologists could predict whether a drug will work, or if the cells will be resistant. In the future, it might even be possible to use AI to help guide the pathologist, by making a rapid assessment about the size of cells and so the treatments that are most likely to work.
“We also hope our discovery will lead to new treatment strategies—for example creating drugs to target the proteins that regulate cell size.”
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, your hope lies in this type of research. For more information, contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net at 1-800-692-8608.
