Mesothelioma Blog

A Japanese pharmaceutical consortium announced the advancement of a new chemotherapy-based mesothelioma treatment option to Phase II clinical trials of patients suffering from pleural malignant mesothelioma.

The treatment, called CBP501, is a new type of chemotherapy-based cytotoxin. Cytotoxic agents work by damaging specific materials within the cell. CBP 501 works by interfering with a cancer cell’s ability to grow and repair itself. In pre-trial research, CBP 501 showed a remarkable degree of stability and was able to penetrate cancer cells readily. Once inside the cell structure the new mesothelioma treatment compound inhibited selected cell growth proteins with great efficiency.

CBP 501 also appears to enhance the efficacy of certain cancer treatments already in common use. The compound appears to sensitive the cancerous cells to the action of DNA-targeted mesothelioma cancer treatments without increasing side-effects.

The new mesothelioma treatment is the product of a joint effort between the CanBas Company, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, and Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company. Takeda Pharmaceutical is the largest pharmaceutical research company in Japan, and reported sales in 2007 in excess of $13 billion (USD).

Phase II trials are required by government regulatory agencies to determine the effectiveness and safety of drugs before being put in general use. These clinical trials are randomized, and performed on volunteer subjects in groups of 20 to 300. Should CBP 501 be cleared, it still faces Phase III multicenter trials, followed by post marketing studies to determine the long-term safety of the experimental mesothelioma treatment.