Clapper, Patti, Schweizer and Mason

While the study is still fresh and the results have yet to be corroborated, evidence collected at the Philadelphia cancer center suggests that certain antioxidants may actually combat mesothelioma tumor growth in addition to tumors caused by other forms of cancer.

Antioxidants have made news in recent years with proponents touting all of their healthful attributes and some folks attributing great strides in healthy living to their ingestion.  However, until recently there has been little actual research on how these naturally occurring bio-chemicals would affect certain types of cancers—and the studies that do exist have mixed results at best. 

In a current report by Trimmer, et al. in which researchers strove to create a new model for understanding the exact processes of tumor growth, a positive link was found between the increase of available antioxidants and the decrease in tumor growth.

The research comes from the Thomas Jefferson Hospital’s Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia and centers around a tumor-suppressing protein known as Caveolin-1.  In the absence of this chemical, tumors grow rapidly, decreasing the survivability of breast cancer and other forms of cancer.  In fact, it has been established that breast cancer patients who do not have this protein in their bloodstream had a 10 percent chance of surviving for 5 years.  Those with the protein had a markedly improved 5 year survival rate by 75%.

This decrease in survival rate is thought to occur because the absence of Caveolin-1 increases the oxidative stress in cancer cells, including mesothelioma cells.  This in essence provides the tumor cells with the fuel they need to grow, spread, and multiply.  However, antioxidants can greatly reduce oxidative stress and decrease the amount of growth “fuel” available to the cancer cells. 

However, this realization does not come without caveats.  Current treatment models do not take into account administration of antioxidants because they are thought to hamper the effectiveness of certain chemotherapy drugs designed to increase oxidative stress.

Lead researcher Michael P. Lisanti said in a statement that "this study provides the necessary genetic evidence that reducing oxidative stress in the body will decrease tumor growth . . . now that we have genetic proof that mitochondrial oxidative stress is important for driving tumor growth, we should reconsider using antioxidants… as anti-cancer agents.”  This flies in the face of the current methods of cancer treatment and will not sit easily with most doctors.

Published virtually in the February 15 issue of Cancer Biology & Therapy, the results of this study will no doubt be scrutinized carefully but could possibly lead to another weapon in the war against mesothelioma that continually searches for ways to extend survival times and increase quality of life for those suffering from asbestos cancer. 

Though experts predict that the increasing number of new mesothelioma diagnoses should peak sometime in the near future, the disease currently strikes nearly 3,000 people in the United States alone.  Because of the amounts of asbestos containing materials still in place in residential buildings, public buildings (such as schools, hospitals, and government offices,) and industrial settings is compounded with a lengthy latency period,  the effects of this deadly disease will be felt for years to come.