Personal Injury Law

Vaccine For Asbestos-Related Mesothelioma Found To Be Safe

By Thomas J. Lamb at AsbestosHUB.com

A new vaccine to prevent mesothelioma, a cancer linked to asbestos exposure, is being researched in the Netherlands. This is very exciting news. Even better, it appears to be safe and effective.

According to a public release, “Possible vaccine for mesothelioma proven safe,” we get the following report:

Building upon their previous research which demonstrated that DC vaccinations induced anti-tumor immunity and conferred a survival benefit in mice, Dr. Aerts and colleagues sought to test the clinical relevance of their finding. After recruiting 10 human patients recently diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma of the epithelial subtype, they cultured immature DC from their blood and exposed the DC to the antigen produced by the patients’ tumors. The DC were also exposed to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH), which was used as a surrogate marker to show an immune response. The DC were then matured and injected back into the patients in three doses over a two-week interval.

Serum samples from all patients showed a significant increase of pre- versus post-vaccine antibodies to KLH. In the four patients whose tumor material was sufficient for testing, there was clear induction of cytotoxicity against their own tumors after vaccination. Three patients showed signs of tumor regression, though this could not be conclusively or directly attributed to the vaccine. [emphasis added]

Mesothelioma is a serious and deadly disease, thus the significance of this development cannot be overstated. As the release mentions, “Once diagnosed, mesothelioma has a median survival time of 12 months. The standard chemotherapeutic treatment only improves survival time by about three months.”

With flu-like symptoms being the most serious side effect, this vaccine may have the power to actually prevent mesothelioma in those exposed to high levels of asbestos.

Take the time to read up on this important breakthrough. You can read the public release at Eurekalert.org, or see an article by The Palm Beach Post, “Vaccine for Asbestos-Related Cancer Looks Safe.”

Full post as published by Asbestos HUB on March 05, 2010 (boomark / email).