Mesothelioma TreatmentOther Therapies
Angiogenesis
The growth of new blood vessels is a natural process which occurs in the body. That process is known in the medical community as angiogenesis. If your body is healthy, it knows how to produce the correct amount of these new blood vessels, allowing it to do such things as restore blood flow to tissues after injury or to heal wounds. The healthy body thats free of disease has its own natural on and off switches that tell it whether its time to inhibit or stimulate growth of new blood cells.
Cancer can throw the angiogenesis process into a tailspin, making new blood vessel production either insufficient or excessive. Specifically, bodies that are battling cancer have a tendency to produce too many new blood vessels. In turn, these blood vessels can destroy normal tissue and/or feed diseased tissue. That allows tumor cells to travel and lodge in other organs, causing the disease to spread. The spreading of cancer is known as metastasizing.
Because this is a common occurrence among cancer patients including those with mesothelioma researchers have developed antiangiogenic therapies to deal with this complication. The most successful drug to date has been Endostatin. According to the manufacturers of the drug, Endostatin is a natural antiangiogenic protein that has been shown to inhibit the growth of blood vessels, thereby starving cancerous tumors.
Researchers have also discovered that when the drug is repeatedly administered, it consistently shrank primary tumors and, unlike traditional chemotherapy treatments, showed no drug resistance over time.
Endostatin is currently still in a clinical trial period and has not yet been approved by the FDA. In trials, it is often administered together with another drug, called angiostatin. The two drugs together have shown effectiveness in inhibiting the growth of new tumors in mice. At this time, few side effects have surfaced but it is too early for researchers and doctors to be aware of any disadvantages of long-term use of Endostatin. It is hoped that Endostatin will reach the nations pharmacies by 2008.
