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A study in Switzerland appears to indicate that depriving mesothelioma cells of nutrition makes them more sensitive to treatment with cisplatin-based chemotherapy. The research team studied the effects of combining chemotherapy and starvation in human mesothelioma cells, both in test tubes and in live mice. Although extremely rare (only about 2,500 cases in the U.S each year), mesothelioma is highly aggressive and almost always fatal within a year. Chemotherapy with a platinum-based compound like cisplatin – the primary first-line treatment for mesothelioma – is usually only moderately effective. But researchers in Zurich found that depriving cells of nutrition had the power to make chemotherapy more effective and even put mesothelioma into remission in a majority of cases. In normal cells in vitro (outside a living organism), serum starvation activated a signaling pathway that led to a “complete arrest of cellular proliferation”. This cell-cycle arrest had the effect of protecting these healthy cells against the damaging effects of chemotherapy. In contrast, when mesothelioma cancer cells were given the same treatment, they became even more sensitive to cisplatin-based chemotherapy, even though the starvation had less effect on their proliferation. When the experiment was then tried in mice with human mesothelioma, temporary starvation was found to significantly enhance the effects of chemotherapy. “Short-term food starvation dramatically increased the sensitivity of human tumor xenografts [mice with human cancer] to cisplatin as indicated not only by a significant growth delay, but also by the induction of complete remission in 60% of the animals bearing mesothelioma xenografts,” the authors write in a summary of their findings in BMC Cancer. Among mice with human lung cancer xenografts, 40% experienced cancer remission. The authors conclude that short-term food starvation “has the potential to enhance the therapeutic index of cisplatin-based therapy”. While the findings are intriguing, they will have to be replicated in human patients before fasting becomes a regular part of mesothelioma treatment. Disclaimer: The information in this article is for educational and informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read in this article. This article was written by a third party and its content reflects the views of the third party and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions or of Surviving Mesothelioma or Cancer Monthly. If anyone is in the unfortunate position to be suffering from Mesothelioma lung cancer they are likely to be offered with choice of treatments, which were dependent upon the several factors. To know more about Mesothelioma lawyer just do visit us.
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