SAN DIEGO IS BECOMING A HUB FOR RARE DISEASE RESEARCH & TREATMENT, INCLUDING MESOTHELIOMA

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version Share this

 

By Nancy Werner

September 19, 2014 (San Diego)--Most people familiar with drug research think of Boston as the center for leading drug research, but San Diego leads in research and development into RNA therapies and treatments that bring hope for patients with rare diseases like mesothelioma.

RNA Drug Development for Rare Diseases Booming in San Diego

San Diego is fast becoming a center for RNA therapy research, writes Joseph Payne, CEO of the biotech development firm Acturus Therapeutics, in Xconomy, an online news site that focuses on business and technology. In addition to his own company, Isis Pharmaceuticals, Santaris Pharma, Regulus Therapeutics, and Solstice Neurosciences are also developing RNA therapies.

RNA treatments work by interfering with the development of cells that would otherwise carry a disease, specifically disrupt their RNA (ribonucleic acid). If you remember your high school chemistry class, RNA is one of the basic building blocks of life. When the RNA in cells that are up to no good gets disrupted, they can’t continue to support the disease.

Treatment for Peritoneal Mesothelioma at Moores Cancer Center, UC San Diego

San Diego also has several cancer centers that offer treatments that may help patients with mesothelioma. One such center is Moores Cancer Center at UC-San Diego, which offers a treatment for many patients with peritoneal mesothelioma, states MesotheliomaHelp.org.

About 25 percent of all mesothelioma patients have this form of the disease, according to the American Cancer Society. Like other peritoneal (abdominal) cancers, it is difficult to treat. Moores offers HIPEC—heated intraperitoneal chemoperfusion—a treatment many oncologists recommend for patients with advanced peritoneal cancer. Also called “hot therapy,” it is performed during surgery, after visible tumors have been removed, to destroy any remaining cancer cells. According to the Moores website, it has shown substantial clinical evidence as an effective treatment for peritoneal mesothelioma.

During HIPEC, surgeons circulate a chemotherapy solution heated to 41C (770F) throughout the abdominal cavity for up to 90 minutes. Because the chemotherapy is delivered directly into the affected area the patient receives a much more powerful dose than he would through conventional IV, without any of the side effects.

The mortality rate following HIPEC is very low, up to 3 percent at other hospitals that report results, but only 1.4 percent at Moores.

Moores’ HIPEC Outcomes Bring Fewer Severe Complications

HIPEC is most often available at research and teaching hospitals like Moores. The majority of patients who receive HIPEC there—75 percent—have cancer of the appendix, itself a very rare disease. Another 23 percent have colon cancer and the remaining have other rare diseases.

Patients at Moore’s have better outcomes after HIPEC than at other centers:

  • Lower severe complication rates: 12 percent versus 25-30 percent           
  • Very low neutropenia—reduction in white blood cells needed to fight infections—rates after HIPEC, just over 1 percent versus 10 percent
  • Half as many Moores’ patients return for additional HIPEC surgery: 3.5 percent versus up to 11 percent
  • Wound infection is much lower at 8 percent versus up to 20 percent
  • Problems with bowel leakage problems are very low, under 2 percent versus up to 9 percent

Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.