Clinical Trial Shows Promise of Cure for Mesothelioma Patients

Patients diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma can usher in the new year with a renewed hope, as Targovax announced in a press release that initial results of their clinical trials involving the combination of ONCOS-102 cancer virus and chemotherapy afforded patients with significant disease control.

Cancerous Viruses Zero In on Mesothelioma Malignancy

The initial phase of the ONCOS-102 trial involved 31 individuals affected with malignant mesothelioma. The patients received combination chemotherapy using pemetrexed/cisplatin. The trial is an attempt to verify the safety, clinical efficacy, and level of immune activation that the cancer-producing virus is able to create in combination with chemotherapy.

Of the 31 participants, 20 of them received the ONCOS-102 and combination chemotherapy. While the remaining 11 only received the standard chemotherapy. The patients received follow up analysis after five months. Upon review of the outcomes, it revealed that those who received the combination therapy did not experience any untoward side effects that are usually expected from patients undergoing chemotherapy sessions.

Going Beyond Safety

While the main focus of the trial was to determine the safety of the treatment, it also revealed that the new treatment is effective in preventing the progression of the malignancy. During the trial, the data showed that patients showed a median progression-free length of 8.4 months, while those in the control group had only 6.8 months. It was also noted that the patients had a positive overall response rate and disease control. In the group that received the combination treatment, the disease control rate was notable at 90%. Most importantly, this group of patients also showed signs of stronger immune system activation.

According to the chair of the Medical Oncology Department of Hospital Doce de Octubre and lead researcher, Professor Luis Paz-Ares, mesothelioma is a problematic disease known to have a poor prognosis. As such, they need to have updates on novel and innovative treatment options, such as the ONCOS-102. He added that while the results of their study are still in preliminary stages, the results are encouraging. Researchers are motivated to continue on their search to present more potential treatment options for patients of malignant mesothelioma.

Prof. Paz-Ares further added that since the antitumor response is challenging to determine in patients with mesothelioma, what they observed is showing great promise. He said, "Mesothelioma remains a challenging disease with generally poor prognosis, and there is a large unmet medical need for new, innovative treatments such as ONCOS-102. We generally consider antitumor responses difficult to measure in mesothelioma, and PFS may be the preferred early indicator of clinical efficacy."

The growing advocacy for mesothelioma helps fuel the search for treatments. In 2018, Selecta Biosciences announced that they were able to give their first patient an SEL-403 during the Phase 1 clinical trial. The product currently under study is the SVP-Rapamycin, together with LMB-100.

Mesothelioma Statistics in a Nutshell

In the U.S., about 54,418 cases of mesothelioma were reported from 1999 to 2015. Of this number, about 45,009 died from complications of the disease. At present, roughly 20 million individuals in the U.S. are at risk of developing the disease secondary to asbestos exposure. These numbers highlight the importance of discovering treatments that can make patients with malignant mesothelioma.

If you are diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma and need legal representation, Bergman Legal can help. If you need updates on clinical trials and new treatment options, there are patient communities and support groups that you can reach out to. You don't have to suffer in this struggle alone.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.