Gene Therapy for Mesothelioma

An exciting new treatment that has given hope to mesothelioma victims is called gene therapy. Gene therapy attempts to decipher why proteins within certain cells cause them to be resilient to cancer while some cells do not. A while back it was believed that genes were complete upon birth, and that they couldn't affect conditions afflicted during life. This however, turned out to not be the case. Since then we have learned that smoking, sunlight and certain foods can all affect our DNA and make changes to our genetic code. These new insights provided by these conditions have allowed doctors to view many conditions like malignant mesothelioma in a new light.

There are many factors that contribute to Mesothelioma. Asbestos exposure is the primary contributing factor, but genetic mutations in individuals also worsen it. Gene therapy is a revolution in mesothelioma treatment because it replaces cancer-causing genes with genes that are medically constructed to die when exposed to cancerous growth. These 'suicide genes' are a possible way to slow and possibly stop the rapid replication of cancerous cells. Studies are also starting to begin experimenting with replacing cancer generating genes with genes susceptible to certain drugs. This would allow the cancer to be potentially eliminated with few side effects.

Gene therapy treatment is still in its beginning stages and is not yet 100% safe. However, this desperate situation suffered by mesothelioma victims, sometimes calls for various experimental treatments. Any hope for surviving mesothelioma outweighs many of the dangers involved.

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Gene Therapy

Cancer treatments have evolved over the years to the point that a diagnosis is no longer a kiss of death. For some cancers, it may still be something of a kiss of death; however, many others can be treated with a variety of treatments. A newer form of treatment is gene therapy.

Gene therapy, unlike other treatments, does not involve chemicals or radiation being thrown at the body. Instead, it uses the simple idea of getting the tumor or cancerous growth to take on the genetic makeup of say the common cold or measles or some illness we can treat effectively. Once the growth has taken on the genetic make up of the cold or whatever it is given, the treatment used to dispel that illness is administered. The theory is that if it works when it is not in tumor form, it should work in tumor form as well.

While the idea is lovely, it has not experienced as much success as one would think. In the mid to late 1990s, there was a clinical trial for curing mesothelioma utilizing this method. Of all of the people who underwent gene therapy to eradicate mesothelioma, only one woman, an Australian woman in her mid 20s, was the only one to survive. The good news is that she also beat the cancer so it was very successful in her case.

Other areas, besides mesothelioma, have seen more success. It is now being suggested that the measles virus may be very effective at treating prostate cancer. The common cold has also been effectively deployed into tumors to change their identity and cure cancer.

Gene therapy does sometimes work but it is much further away from being a sure thing than either radiation or chemotherapy. One of the biggest problems is that we have to be able to cure the disease we give the cancer cells. If we are unable to cure the disease quickly and effectively, the person can end up with cancer and measles or the flu or whatever else cancer is turned into.

In order to effectively change cancer into a disease, the second disease must have its own DNA. For that reason, bacteria and viruses are both open to the idea of being implanted. The problem with many viruses, however, is that they are less easily knocked out by a variety of antibiotics.

For more information on the world of cancer treatment and research, please visit http://www.mesolawsuit.com.

Joseph Devine

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