Efficacy of Cisplatin-vinorelbine against malignant pleural mesothelioma could be helped through certain biomarkers; Research

Researchers have found that the biomarkers such as ERCC1 and class III β-tubulin could help us in determining the efficacy of the combination of cisplatin-vinorelbine in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM).

This research has been published online in the journal of Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology.

MPM is one of the most fatal forms of cancer. Many of the researchers from around the world are working on the development of proper therapeutic strategy for its treatment. In this research, scientists worked on the previous therapeutic strategy with improved diagnostic tools of biomarkers.

Researchers in this study worked on the biomarkers ERCC1, BRCA1, and class III β-tubulin. ERCC1 is a protein that is involved in the repair of damaged DNA. It is encoded by the ERCC1 gene. BRCA1 is a type of gene involved in the production of protein called as breast cancer type 1 susceptibility protein, which is also responsible for repairing DNA. Class III β-tubulin also known as βIII-tubulin is a microtubule element of the tubulin family – which are globular proteins – present in the neurons. Class III β-tubulin is popularly used in the identification purposes for neurons in the nervous tissue.

Researchers worked on the 54 patients of MPM in phase-II trial. They evaluate the patients for the above mentioned biomarkers by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and found that ERCC1- and class III β-tubulin-status classified patients were either treatment resistant or treatment responsive while the other biomarkers were not much related to the treatment strategy. Researchers found that progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were improved in the treatment-responsive patients. They concluded that the negative ERCC1 and class III β-tubulin immunostaining were associated with the improved PFS and OS in the patients of MPM receiving cisplatin-vinorelbine therapy, so they can be used for the progress of the treatment.

Reference:

Zarah Glad Zimling, Jens Benn Sørensen, Thomas Alexander Gerds, Cecilia Bech, Claus Bøgelund Andersen, Eric Santoni-Rugiu, (2012). A biomarker profile for predicting efficacy of cisplatin–vinorelbine therapy in malignant pleural mesothelioma. Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology, [Epub ahead of print]