New Treatment for Mesothelioma of the Peritoneum |
Posted: August 19, 2018 |
Currently there is no treatment for mesothelioma of the peritoneum. This is a very rare form of cancer, there are only between 10 and 15 patients per year. In the Erasmus MC, people have focused on the cure of this disease. A treatment has been developed that is thought to benefit patients greatly. This treatment has now been approved for a trial and will soon also start in other European countries. Immunotherapy after surgery for asbestos cancer (mesothelioma) of the peritoneum The Mesopic study is intended for patients with a rare form of peritoneal cancer, the peritoneal mesothelioma. At the moment there are no healing treatments for peritoneal mesothelioma. The current treatment is an abdominal operation in which all visible cancer is removed as well as possible, after which the abdominal cavity is flushed with heated chemotherapy. We call this HIPEC. HIPEC is an abbreviation for Hypertherme Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy. Postpone returnUnfortunately, despite this treatment, it is expected that the tumor will return over time. That is why we conduct research in which we try to postpone the return of tumor longer with new (additional) treatment forms. Additional treatmentThis research is done by the Erasmus MC Cancer Institute in Rotterdam. We investigate whether an additional treatment that takes place alongside the current (standard) treatment is safe. The additional treatment of immunotherapyconsists of dendritic cell. With dendritic cell immunotherapy we try to make our own immune system more active for the control of malignant cells. Dendritic cell immunotherapyDendritic cells are a type of white blood cell. White blood cells play an important role in the immune system, they are the natural protection of the body against foreign substances. In this study we remove white blood cells from the patient's blood. These white blood cells are grown outside the body into dendritic cells and loaded with an excipient. This excipient is made from cell lines with mesothelioma cells. These mesothelioma cells have been destroyed, so they are no longer active. The dendritic cells are loaded with this and then injected back into the patient's body. In this way they fight the active tumor cells in the body. When participating in this study, the patient will receive a total of five vaccinations with these cells (after the HIPEC operation). Very limited side effectsDendritic cell immunotherapy has previously been tested at Erasmus MC in patients with mesothelioma in the lungs. These previous studies have shown that the administration of dendritic cells only gives very limited (flu-like) side effects. No (yet) statement can be made about the effectiveness of the dendritic cell immunotherapy, but this method of treatment seems promising. That is why it is important that more research is done on this. Participation in studyTo qualify for participation in this study, a patient must meet a number of criteria. The main criteria for participation (inclusion criteria) and for exclusion of participation (exclusion criteria) are described below. Important to know is that patients will always undergo a number of examinations (fitness check) to determine definitively whether they are eligible for participation in the study. Inclusion criteria:
Exclusion criteria:
A total of 20 patients are needed for this study. The medical ethics review committee CCMO has approved this study.
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