Clapper, Patti, Schweizer and Mason

Researchers at Duke University have made a very interesting discovery that may radically change the way mesothelioma and other deadly cancers are treated in the very near future.  Scientist found that they can use what they call “transporter” cells to deliver chemotherapy medication directly to diseased cells.  This type of targeted attack on specific cells would drastically reduce the negative side effects associated with mesothelioma treatment by preserving the healthy cells which are often damaged or destroyed during chemotherapy.

Mesothelioma is a very aggressive type of cancer caused by inhalation or ingestion of asbestos.  Typical traditional treatments of the disease include some combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.  Most mesothelioma patients will undergo multiple rounds of chemotherapy.  Unfortunately, chemotherapy takes a massive toll on the body.

In traditional chemotherapy, there is no way to ensure that the medication is delivered directly to the targeted cells.  Instead, the chemicals are pumped in via IV and circulate through the body.  Once in the bloodstream, they are free to attack just about any part of the body and this process often leaves patients very ill indeed. 

Side effects of traditional chemotherapy include:

• Anemia
• Low platelet count (which can lead to bruising and excessive bleeding)
• Fatigue
• Hair loss
• Inability to fight infection
• Digestive problems (vomiting, diarrhea, constipation)
• Loss of appetite

As is the case with various forms of site-specific cancer like mesothelioma, if tumors have yet to metastasize, doctors can open the body (either surgically or through laparoscopy, and remove parts of the tumors.  This is usually followed by directed chemotherapy where the chemo drugs are injected via catheter right at the tumor site.  However, this method still allows the drugs to damage healthy cells as well.

“Transporters” Could Drop Chemotherapy Drugs On-Target

These nucleoside “transporters” function as a sort of delivery system for cell building.  They move nucleosides—components of nucleic acids, DNA, and RNA—from one side of the cell wall to the other.  The scientists at Duke have postulated that they could “fool” these transporter cells into carrying nucleoside-like chemotherapy drugs through cell wall as well.  This would allow for the direct delivery of chemotherapy to specific cells rather than just a general area of the body.

Once inside a cancerous cell, these chemotherapy drugs would alter the cancerous cell’s DNA and prevent it from undergoing cell division, thereby stopping the asbestos cancer growth in its tracks.

Seok-Yong Lee, the PhD behind the project and assistant professor of biochemistry at the university, said that “knowing the structure and properties of the transporter molecule may be the key to changing the way that some chemotherapies, for example, could work in the body to prevent tumor growth.”

It is hoped that by understanding how these nucleoside transporters work that doctors can develop a specific chemotherapy drug that they will recognize and attach to. 

While any real-world applications of this method are years away, this line of research represents the fresh new thinking that has shaken up the cancer world in recent months.  Scientists are now rethinking the problem and stepping outside the box that has hindered new research for decades.  With the development of new technologies doctors can really push the limits and test novel approaches to treating deadly diseases like mesothelioma without endangering large numbers of patients.