Last week, the Journal of Thoracic Oncology published the results of a study looking into the overexpression of the ephrin B2 receptor (EPHB2) in patients with mesothelioma. The researchers at the New York University Langone Medical Center observed that EPHB2 is overexpressed in all malignant mesothelioma cell lines, but not in benign mesothelial cells. In addition, they found that silencing this receptor resulted in a significant increase in certain processes responsible for naturally ridding the body of old and defective cells (including cancerous ones).
The team of researchers who worked on this study includes Dr. Harvey Pass, one of the founders and a former board member of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation. Dr. Pass has been a leader in the field of mesothelioma and a vocal advocate for mesothelioma patients.
“The mesothelioma community is looking for novel targets for therapy, and the data on the ephrins may provide an opportunity for this,” said Dr. Pass. “Certainly we also must expand our findings to elucidate the prognostic and predictive characteristics of this important pathway,” he added.
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