Immunotherapy: Pushing the immune system against rare cancers
Immunotherapy, how does it work, what do we know so far?
Immunotherapy has become a powerful tool for treating a variety of cancers, and people with rare cancers will benefit the most. Patients with rare cancers often face limited treatments with poor prognosis and difficulty in treatment to help them overcome difficulties because their research often lags behind more prominent diseases. For example, malignant mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that patients can survive on average in just 15 months after diagnosis. This type of cancer develops in the inner layers of the organ and there are three types that affect the lungs, peritoneum or heart chamber. Each type typically requires multimodal therapy and the patient's life expectancy is 5 to 10 years. The long incubation period of this environmental cancer combined with the general symptoms it presents often leaves the patient with little choice and little time to take action. With the introduction of drug treatments and clinical trials for CTLA4 and PDL-1, patients have the opportunity to participate in studies specifically for mesothelioma and may accept treatment that would otherwise be impossible or too late.
Clinical trials and new drug therapies for checkpoint inhibitors are advancing the entire cancer treatment arena through open cancer treatment, rather than being limited to specific types. PDL-1 and related targets are not only promising for the treatment of lung cancer, but also promising for pleural mesothelioma, which is also present in the lungs. Pembrolizumab or Keytruda has been shown to successfully treat mesothelioma, creating an alternative for patients who have not shown results for standard treatments for surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Therapies like Keytruda are getting more extensive research and providing patients with more ways and opportunities to join clinical trials as a last resort. The effectiveness and broad applicability of this treatment has led to innovations and improvements in mesothelioma treatment standards.
Immunotherapy has become an alternative to common invasive cancer treatments
In a study conducted at Baylor University, clinicians are conducting a trial using inhibitor immunotherapy as a neoadjuvant therapy rather than a final choice. The study is investigating pembrolizumab and tremelimumab against CTLA4. Dr. Bryan Burt and his team are using these medications before standard surgical options and radiation therapy. Designed to improve the efficacy and prognosis of surgical solutions, immunotherapy for rare cancers is becoming a more viable option to provide patients with much-needed hope and treatment.
Through this and other studies, immunotherapy is expected to change rare cancer treatments and bring hope to patients.
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