Discovery and Delivery Platform Making Small RNAs a Viable Therapeutic Option for Mesothelioma
Abstract
Later in life, active-duty Service Members and Veterans who are exposed to asbestos may fall ill with the deadly cancer malignant pleural mesothelioma. Treatments for mesothelioma are nearly a decade and a half old, and on average a person with mesothelioma survives for only 12 months following diagnosis. The large surface area covered by mesothelioma tumors makes surgical resection tricky at best. The main issue is that surgeons cannot remove every little bit of tumor, and even these microscopic tumor fragments can regrow the tumor. We have developed a gel that can be sprayed or painted onto the entire surface of the resected lung. The gel can be loaded with drugs that release slowly over time to kill the microscopic tumor fragments that were not removed during surgery. The big question has been what drugs should we load into the gel? In this proposal we will answer the question of which drugs we should load into the gel by using data about which genes are mesothelioma-specific vulnerabilities and a map of mesothelioma tumor biology. These data will provide a platform that we will use to choose promising drug candidates that we will test on mesothelioma patient tumor cells. Candidates that kill tumor cells or stop tumor cell growth will then be loaded into the gel and tested against human tumors growing in mice. This last step is one of the final steps before putting drugs into clinical trials. We are hopeful that our proposal will lead to the discovery of a new drug that will extend the lives of people diagnosed with mesothelioma, and eventually drive the disease into remission.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Dec 05, 2021
- Source ID
- W81XWH2110868
Entities
People
- Christopher Plaisier
Organizations
- Arizona State University
- United States Army