1. Angelo Butera BME 181 February 19 th 2013

2.  Cancer of the mesothelium (protective organ covering)  Most common in the pleura  Produces pleural effusion (additional fluid)  Caused by as little as 1-3 months of exposure to asbestos  Survival: Average <2 years, up to 5 with radical treatments.

3.  Developed by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Eureka Therapeutics to treat mesothelioma  As proteins are broken down inside cells, fragments (peptides) are brought to cell surface.  GL-ONC1 is a lab-created antibody that can read these peptides, effectively letting it “see” inside the cell.  This allows it to target cells based on the internal proteins, where up until this point we could only target external proteins.

4.  WT1 is a protein that is overexpressed in many leukemias, myeloma, breast, ovarian, rectal cancer.  It is an oncogenic protein (promotes cancer development)  Found in very few healthy cells, and in small amounts.

5.  Mesothelioma has a very high amount of WT1 present in the cancerous cells.  Doctors will take the modified immune system cells (GL-ONC1), and attempt to use them in combination with radiation, chemo and a variety of other drugs to combat various cancers.

6.  Human trials started earlier this month, with 5 patients taking part  All of these patients had mesothelioma, or a similarly severe cancer.  3/5 have gone into long-term remission, with one entering remission within 8 days of receiving treatment.  Long term effects, etc. still must be studied, but it seems promising.

7.  Gherardi, James. "Lynchburg Doctor: New Cancer Treatment Could Change Medicine For - WSET.com - ABC13." Lynchburg Doctor: New Cancer Treatment Could Change Medicine For - WSET.com - ABC13. ABC News, 29 Mar. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013.  Hool, Caitlin. "New Monoclonal Antibody Developed That Can Target Proteins inside Cancer Cells." New Monoclonal Antibody Developed That Can Target Proteins inside Cancer Cells. EurekAlert, 13 Mar. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013.  Meredith, Nancy. "Pleural Mesothelioma Patients Wanted to Test Novel Treatment in Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Clinical Trial." Mesothelioma Help. N.p., 5 Mar. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013.  "Mesothelioma." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Mar. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013.  "Physicians at NYC Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Begin "First-In- Man" Drug Therapy on Mesothelioma Patients." SFGate. N.p., 6 Mar. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013.