Mesothelioma Law

Gene Therapy Treatment for Mesothelioma

Of all the options being investigated to treat mesothelioma and other types of cancer, one of the most promising treatments involves gene therapy. Although still very much in an experimental stage and only available in clinical trials, gene therapy is currently being applied in a number of ways. One approach involves altering normal, healthy cells and enhancing their ability to fight cancer cells. Others involve altering the genetic makeup of cancer cells so their growth is inhibited or they self-destruct. Given the fact that the entire human genome has been mapped in recent years, the prospects of gene therapy making a major impact on mesothelioma and other cancers in the near future are quite good.

What is Gene Therapy?

In a way, it’s fair to say that gene therapy approaches cancer treatment from the inside out. The genetic material in our cells determines a nearly infinite variety of things from the color of our hair to the appearance of our skin to organ function, and much, much more. In gene therapy experiments, genetic material with known and desirable properties is inserted into a cell to produce the desired effect. Inserting genetic material into a cell’s nucleus is a very meticulous process and requires exquisitely fine precision to accomplish.

As complicated as gene therapy experiments sound, they are further complicated due to the fact that unforeseen results are almost guaranteed to occur as sequences of new genes interact with and react to a cell’s natural gene sequence. To explain gene therapy in its simplest terms, gene therapy:

• Replaces a mutated gene in a cell that causes diseases with a healthy copy
• Renders a mutated gene in a cell inactive
• Introduces a new gene to a cell’s gene sequence which has been found to fight a specific disease

How Gene Therapy Works in Cancer Treatment

There are quite a few different ways that gene therapy works in cancer treatment, which include:

• Inserting specialized genes into cancer cells to enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy, radiation, and other treatments.
• Introducing ‘suicide genes’ into a cancer cell and them administering a drug to the cancer patient which then causes these genes to self-destruct.
• Gene insertion which inhibits a cancer cell’s ability to create new blood vessels and grow.
• Inserting genes into healthy cells in a body’s immune system which then recognize cancer cells as a threat and set about eliminating them through natural processes.
• As well as many others currently under development.

Gene therapy for treating mesothelioma and other types of cancer as well as all sorts of other diseases is ongoing and progressing and combined with other forms of cancer treatment, represents new frontiers for medical science to explore. Most scientists say that despite all the work and research being done in research facilities all over the world, they still have only the most rudimentary knowledge of how genes, gene sequences, and gene therapy work. But given the speed that they’ve acquired this knowledge in recent years, the future of gene therapy in treating all sorts of maladies is very promising indeed.