Pegylated liposomal doxorubicin in malignant pleural mesothelioma: a possible guardian for long-term survival

Novel Insights Into Mesothelioma Therapy: Emerging Avenues and Future Prospects

Malignant mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive cancer that develops in the thin layer surrounding the mesothelium and is mainly caused by asbestos exposure. Despite improvements in patient prognosis with conventional cancer treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, there are still no curative treatment modalities for advanced disease. In recent years, new therapeutic avenues have been explored. Improved understanding of the mechanisms underlying the dynamic tumor interaction with the immune system has led to the development of immunotherapeutic approaches. Numerous recent clinical trials have shown a desire to develop more effective treatments that can be used to fight against the disease. Immune checkpoint inhibitors, oncolytic adenoviruses, and their combination represent a promising strategy that can be used to synergistically overcome immunosuppression in the mesothelioma tumor microenvironment. This review provides a synthesized overview of the current state of knowledge on new therapeutic options for mesothelioma with a focus on the results of clinical trials conducted in the field.

Local Therapies and Modulation of Tumor Surrounding Stroma in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma: A Translational Approach

Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare and aggressive neoplasm of the pleural mesothelium, mainly associated with asbestos exposure and still lacking effective therapies. Modern targeted biological strategies that have revolutionized the therapy of other solid tumors have not had success so far in the MPM. Combination immunotherapy might achieve better results over chemotherapy alone, but there is still a need for more effective therapeutic approaches. Based on the peculiar disease features of MPM, several strategies for local therapeutic delivery have been developed over the past years. The common rationale of these approaches is: (i) to reduce the risk of drug inactivation before reaching the target tumor cells; (ii) to increase the concentration of active drugs in the tumor micro-environment and their bioavailability; (iii) to reduce toxic effects on normal, non-transformed cells, because of much lower drug doses than those used for systemic chemotherapy. The complex interactions between drugs and the local immune-inflammatory micro-environment modulate the subsequent clinical response. In this perspective, the main interest is currently addressed to the development of local drug delivery platforms, both cell therapy and engineered nanotools. We here propose a review aimed at deep investigation of the biologic effects of the current local therapies for MPM, including cell therapies, and the mechanisms of interaction with the tumor micro-environment.

A multifactoral analysis of 1452 patients for smoking sensation. An outpatient lab experience

Smoking habit is held responsible for several respiratory and metabolic diseases. Data from 1452 patients were recorded from our outpatient laboratory. The following parameters were recorded within several follow ups of our patients; smoking habit, respiratory functions, smoking cessation questionnaires, and administered drugs. The treatment administered to smokers throughout the period of inspection seems to also have a significant effect on dependence. In fact, varelicline causes a 50% reduction in smoking dependence in regards to nicotine substitutes (odds ratio: 0.48 (0.31-0,74), p=0.001) so displaying a substantial preponderance on the choice to fight smoking dependence.