Former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant recently made public his support of a British cancer charity, Killing Cancer. The primary focus of the charity is to raise money to fund further trials for photodynamic therapy, a procedure that shows great promise in the treatment of mesothelioma and other cancers.

During photodynamic therapy, a light-activated drug is injected into a vein, spreading throughout the body and eventually collecting in cancer cells. After several days (typically after mesothelioma surgery), a fixed frequency light is inserted into the cancer site through a fiber optic device allowing the light to be manipulated by the doctor.

The cancer cells die when exposed to the light which activates the drug that has been absorbed. The light exposure must be timed appropriately so that the normal cells have had time to discard the drug, while the cancerous cells are still holding on to it.

Plant says he is a big fan of the treatment which he states is helping friends fight their cancer.

The major side effect of PDT is skin sensitivity, as well as nausea, vomiting, and sometimes a metallic taste in the mouth. Clinical trials are underway in the United States to evaluate PDT for cancers of the brain, skin, prostate, cervix, and peritoneal cavity.

While PDT is still undergoing testing, it has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment and relief of esophageal cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. The FDA approved agent is called porfirmer sodium, or Photofrin.

Medical professionals may now be able to give a more accurate prognosis to patients with mesothelioma than ever before.

Research is ongoing to find better ways to diagnose and treat mesothelioma. For example, one study recently published by Italian scientists demonstrates that the presence of a protein called placental growth factor (PlGF) can actually help determine both the prognosis and the best course of treatment for mesothelioma patients.

What is PIGF?

PIGF is a protein normally found in very high levels in both the cells of developing placentas and in mesothelioma cells. It seems to have an influence on the survival of malignant tumors.

PlGF is also related to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which has been shown to encourage the growth of new blood vessels. These blood vessels can also feed tumors.

Not only can stopping the development of the VEGF induced blood vessels slow down the growth of tumors relying on the new blood vessels to provide it nutrients, a better prognosis can now be predicted since the studies also show that higher PlGF levels in mesothelioma patients resulted in shorter survival time after invasive surgery, and lower levels of the same protein indicated longer survival times.

While there is no cure for mesothelioma, PlGF shows promise as a diagnostic tool to determine the prognosis of mesothelioma patients, as well as a potential avenue for new mesothelioma treatments.

Researchers and scientists in Greece have announced results of a single institution Phase II study which tested a new possible treatment for mesothelioma. There was encouraging success according to a recently publicized report.

Researchers from the Athens University School of Medicine in Greece tested the effectiveness of gemcitabine plus docetaxel as a chemotherapy option.

Standard treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma is combinations of Alimta (permetrexed) and Cisplatin (gemcitabine). This study was to examine the efficacy of the new combination Cisplatin (gemcitabine) and Taxotere (docetaxel) in the first-line setting. This combination has not been investigated before.

Of the twenty-five patients who suffer from malignant pleural mesothelioma and participated in the trial, seven responded to the treatment. They received 80 mg of docetaxel and 1,000 mg of gemcitabine on days 1 and 4 of a 28-day cycle.

The treatment was scheduled for a maximum of 6 cycles or until the disease showed signs of progression or unacceptable toxicity became present. These seven patients’ tumors shrunk in size. For fourteen of the patients there was no change in tumor size and the remaining four patients had tumors increase in size.

The researchers concluded the administration of gemcitabine and docetaxel appears to be promising first-line therapy for patients with mesothelioma. It is well tolerated and appears to improve survival.