In 2016, the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation funded a grant to Antonio Giordano, MD, PhD, director and founder of the Sbarro Health Research Organization at Temple University, to investigate how silencing a protein-coding gene called PRMT5 could have therapeutic effects in the treatment of mesothelioma.
This month, the answer was published in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. Researchers demonstrated that silencing PRMT5 in certain key enzymes does, in fact, slow the growth of malignant mesothelioma. This work was done in collaboration with the University of Siena in Italy, where researchers studied in vitro cancer cell lines. Though promising, these results are in their very early stages and have not yet been tested in patients. You can read the full published article here.
“In this work we demonstrated that PRMT5 silencing slowed MM cell growth and abrogated their clonogenic potential. For other oncologic diseases this strategy has been proven to be effective enough to start clinical trials with PRMT5 inhibitors. Considering the high toxicity of the standard chemotherapy with platinum and anti-folate drugs and the extremely poor prognosis for mesothelioma, this research opens the way to consider mesothelioma as another cancer that could benefit from treatment with this new class of molecules.”
Antonio Giordano, MD, PhD
The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation’s grants program funds cutting-edge mesothelioma research through a rigorous peer-review with the main objective to accelerate the development of treatment advances for mesothelioma.
To date, the program has awarded over $10.2 million in funding for 108 projects worldwide.
The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation is the only 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization working to eradicate mesothelioma and end this national tragedy. Its programs include the funding of promising and peer-reviewed research, education, support and advocacy. The organization strives to bring together thought-leaders in the field to identify the most direct path to a cure.
