Biotechnology company, Bionomics, has been seeking opinions from US and Australian medical leaders on the use of their drug BNC105 for treatment of ovarian cancer. Already in testing for renal cancer and mesothelioma, BNC105 could benefit women suffering from the fifth largest killer in women’s cancers.

Discussions are under way in hopes of scheduling clinical testing next year. Chief Executive at Bionomics, Deborah Rathjen says, “It has always been Bionomics’ intention to initiate further clinical trials of BNC105. The decision to undertake a clinical trial in women with ovarian cancer has followed extensive consultation with key opinion leaders in Australia and the US.”

Where ovarian cancer is specific to women, mesothelioma has long since affected a majority male population. This is not due to specific organs mesothelioma effects, but to its cause, toxic asbestos, and the environments historically responsible for asbestos exposure.

Considered an ‘industrial disease,’ mesothelioma is associated with large-scale works such as shipbuilding, mining, and refineries. For the first sixty-plus years of asbestos use in the world’s leading industrial markets, these arenas were operated and manned almost totally by men. In the past several decades as working demographics have shifted drastically, female cases of mesothelioma have risen.

Malignant mesothelioma is characterized by a latency period ranging from twenty to fifty years. Patients usually have no idea they are developing the fatal cancer until symptoms begin to show at the end of this latency period. For many, time or place of original asbestos exposure is a mystery, if they even know they were exposed at all.

As health and safety regulations began to change to match the growing information about the dangers of asbestos, employers had to follow through with employee education, awareness and safety precautions. Sadly, many did not, either out of ignorance or intentional negligence; many employers allowed their workers to continue working in environments made hazardous by asbestos. Because of this, to date, over six hundred thousand lawsuits have been filed related to asbestos; most by employees suffering with mesothelioma or another asbestos related disease, against their current or former employer.

Bionomics cancer drug could become a valuable addition to mesothelioma treatment options. There is currently no known cure for mesothelioma. Most treatments are administered as palliative care in an effort to extend patient life expectancy, which averages just eighteen months following diagnosis, and raise quality of life. Current treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

The beginning of this month saw Pfizer introduce a new cancer treatment to the medical community. From June 4^th through June 8^th, the Annual Society of Clinical Oncology met in Chicago Illinois, where the pharmaceutical giant presented its new drug. Specific to non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC)—comprising less than 5% of all cancer cases—crizotinib targets a genetic marker anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), which may also be present in pleural mesothelioma tumor cells.

Pleural mesothelioma is one of two known types of the rare cancer. Affecting lung lining, pleural mesothelioma makes up about 80% of all mesothelioma cases. The other 20% affects linings of other abdominal organs and is called peritoneal mesothelioma. Both types are considered fatal and without cure.

Asbestos fibers cause malignant mesothelioma through inhalation or ingestion. Fibers become lodged in lung lining and begin a mutative process of healthy cells. This process turns into tumor development and lasts for twenty to fifty years. Most mesothelioma patients have no idea they were ever exposed to toxic asbestos and therefore have no idea they are developing the deadly cancer.

Characterized by such a long latency period, mesothelioma is extremely difficult to diagnose. Once symptoms begin to show mesothelioma is in its final and most aggressive stage; following diagnosis life expectancy averages just eighteen months. Although mesothelioma treatments exist, many patients choose palliative care rather than cancer-direct treatments. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy—standards in mesothelioma treatment—can be quite taxing on patients already struggling with the effects of the disease. Providers often choose to focus on pain management, raising quality of life, and extending life expectancy, rather that picking a battle with fatal mesothelioma.

Crizotinib showed promise in clinical testing by greatly increasing life expectancy in patients with advanced cases of NSCLC. Standard life expectancy for NSCLC cases peaks at 2 years; at which point only 20% of patients are alive. With crizotinib, 74% of patients tested were alive after one year, and 54% were alive after two—this is a great step in extending patient life expectancy in an arena of such characteristically low mortality rates.

New treatments are a welcome development in a world witnessing rising mesothelioma cases. Asbestos continues to be used globally and more so in developing countries where safety precautions are minimal, if existent, and health hazards go unchecked. Experts expect to see a rise in worldwide mesothelioma cases unless asbestos use is stopped immediately. Sadly, many struggling economies are dependant upon export or import of the toxic material keeping an end to asbestos use out of sight.

A recent article in Journal of Clinical Investigation, co-authored by Hooisweng Ow, details the findings and benefits of “Cornell dots,” a new diagnostic tool developed by Ow and Ulrich Wiesner, Cornell Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. Developed in 2005, “Cornell dots” act as light beacons in the search for cancer cells and tumors. This technology is specifically beneficial in diagnosis and treatment of small-tumor cancers such as mesothelioma.

Malignant mesothelioma is a cancer affecting protective lining of abdominal organs, the membranous, mesothelium. Unlike many other deep tissue cancer tumors, mesothelioma tumors are wider than they are deep, spreading through the thin mesothelium.

Mesothelioma is characterized by a long latency period, typically spanning several decades. During this latency period mesothelioma does not demonstrate symptoms. Unless the patient knows to look for the rare cancer, there would be no signs that anything was amiss until twenty to fifty years after development begin. Due to the long latency period and small, wide characteristics of mesothelioma tumors, mesothelioma poses quite a diagnostic challenge.

Mesothelioma is caused by asbestos fibers, which can be inhaled or ingested into the body. These fibers begin a mutative process of cancer development.

Products similar to “Cornell dots” have been developed, but none approved by Food and Drug Administration until now. Make-up of “Cornell dots” have made them just right for entry into the body—they are not considered intruder cells—and for detection by positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Once “Cornell dots” have attached themselves to cancer cells, their particular qualities glow in response to specific light sources, guiding providers to cancer cells and tumors.

According to the researchers, this new technology “enables visualization during surgical treatment, showing invasive or metastatic spread to lymph nodes and distant organs, and can show the extent of treatment response.”

Currently, an estimated twenty thousand people suffer from mesothelioma worldwide; this number is expected to grow as asbestos use continues to go unregulated in many developing countries. With a rise in cases, new diagnostic tools aiding in early cancer detection could break the fatal record associated with mesothelioma.