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Novel and Promising Systemic Treatment Approaches in Mesothelioma

  • Lung Cancer (TA Leal, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Opinion statement

There was limited progress in the development of novel systemic approaches in the treatment of advanced malignant mesothelioma for years following the publication of the pivotal phase III trial of Vogelzang et al. that established the cisplatin/pemetrexed regimen as a standard 1st-line systemic therapy. Since then, over the last several years, a significant step forward has been made, with incorporation of immune checkpoint inhibitors and anti-angiogenic agents. In addition, better appreciation of mesothelioma biology has allowed detection of novelmolecular therapeutic targets. All the above-mentioned strategies, along with the additional promising approaches represented by adoptive T cell therapy, dendritic cell therapy, cancer vaccines, oncoviral therapy, and agents targeting mesothelin are discussed in this review. The clinical research to identify effective biologic targets and treatment combinations in malignant mesothelioma is ongoing.

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  1. Elizabeth Dudnik and Daniel Reinhorn contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Thoracic Cancer Service, Davidoff Cancer Center, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Campus, 49100, Petah Tikva, Israel

    Elizabeth Dudnik MD & Daniel Reinhorn MD

  2. Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, POB 39040 Ramat Aviv, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Elizabeth Dudnik MD & Liran Holtzman BSc

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  1. Elizabeth Dudnik MD
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Correspondence to Elizabeth Dudnik MD.

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Elizabeth Dudnik has received research funding from AstraZeneca, and has received personal fees for lectures, consulting or advisory services from Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, MSD, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, Takeda, and Sanofi.

Daniel Reinhorn declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Liran Holtzman declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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Dudnik, E., Reinhorn, D. & Holtzman, L. Novel and Promising Systemic Treatment Approaches in Mesothelioma. Curr. Treat. Options in Oncol. 22, 89 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11864-021-00883-8

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