ADI-PEG 20 Shows Promise in Inhibiting Mesothelioma Cancer Cell Growth
Polaris Group has announced the start of a global phase 3 clinical trial to test the efficacy of ADI-PEG 20 in the treatment of mesothelioma, melanoma and other cancers. The drug, pegylated arginine deiminase (ADI-PEG 20), has been found to inhibit cancer cell growth in certain cancers. Initial tests with mesothelioma have been promising.
Mesothelioma is a rare, aggressive cancer primarily caused by exposure to airborne asbestos fibers. Although there is no cure for mesothelioma, it can be treated with varying degrees of success through the use of surgical procedures, chemotherapy and radiation. Close to 3,000 Americans are diagnosed with the cancer yearly.
ADI-PEG 20 inhibits growth in cancers that have a deficiency in the enzyme argininosuccinate synthetase (ASS). ASS is required for the production of arginine, an amino acid needed for growth and replication of cells. In healthy tissue cells, normal levels of ASS exist that can produce sufficient arginine for their own growth and survival when ADI-PEG 20 is introduced. Research found that, on the other hand, growth and replication of ASS-deficient tumor cells is inhibited by ADI-PEG 20 because arginine is degraded and depleted.
The preferred protocol when administering chemotherapy to mesothelioma patients is to use combination therapy, or multiple chemo-agents. Combination therapy makes it more difficult to develop a drug resistance and has been shown to minimize side effects. Primarily, combination therapy has been shown to be more effective.
The findings presented for ADI-PEG 20 support combination therapy with evidence that ADI-PEG 20 plus cisplatin treatment in cell cultures of ASS-deficient malignant pleural mesothelioma resulted in “synergistic cytotoxic effects on the cancer cells compared to either agent alone.”
Findings were announced at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting held in April.
