Jun 28, 2012 - New Drug Perifosine Shows Potential as Novel Treatment for Mesothelioma
Drug manufacturer Aeterna Zentaris Inc. believes that its new drug perifosine could be used to effectively treat mesothelioma. This news was broadcast in an article the company published in the international peer reviewed online journal of medicine Plos One. The drug is a cancer fighting agent that is administered orally and could potentially represent a novel approach to treating malignant pleural mesothelioma.
The company’s own data has shown that Perifosine is effective at inhibiting EGFR/MET-AKT Axis in malignant pleural mesothelioma. The activation of Akt (a protein) is considered essential in the growth of certain cancer cells including those of pleural mesothelioma. By disrupting the activation sequence of this protein, perifosine can limit tumor growth.
The article details the result of a study in which perifosine was used on human mesothelioma cells in an in vitro laboratory situation. The study showed that the levels of perifosine directly correlated to decreased activation of this protein and the corresponding cancer cell growth.
In addition, researchers also used a multi-modal therapy combining perifosine with a standard chemotherapy drug called cisplatin. Cisplatin-based chemotherapy is the most widely prescribed form of chemotherapy for mesothelioma patients. Scientists discovered that the addition of cisplatin further enhanced the toxicity to cancer cells and increased the damage done to these tumor cells.
The company is actively testing perifosine as a treatment method for other types of cancer as well and the drug is currently the subject of a phase III clinical trial involving multiple myeloma.
This isn’t the first time clinical research has specifically targeted a single protein. In fact, multiple researchers have zeroed in on mesothelin as a possible protein target for immunotherapy treatments; however the results recorded by the Aeterna Zentaris team have been exceptional. In fact, because of the results shown by these preliminary trials, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug and Fast Track designations to perifosine which will make it much easier for scientist to expand clinical trials in hopes of making perifosine a viable commercially available treatment in the very near future.
The drug has yet to progress to being used in clinical trials for mesothelioma but based on the in vitro results it may well soon. Additionally, if the drug does succeed in getting FDA approval, mesothelioma doctors could employ a practice called off-label use and prescribe it on a case by case basis.
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