 Malignant mesothelioma has received widespread notoriety because it occurs frequently in the lung linings of people exposed to asbestos. However, asbestos does not always cause this particular cancer that kills 43,000 people worldwide each year. Many mesothelioma patients were never exposed to asbestos. "Mesothelioma is a disease that continues to have a significant burden worldwide, and the treatment option is really suboptimal. We must find better ways to treat it," said senior author Afshin Dowlati, MD, Professor of Medicine -- Hematology/Oncology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. "We now understand the mechanisms that drive cell proliferation and growth in malignant mesothelioma." The culprit in sparking many cancers, particularly mesothelioma, is the intracellular protein and transcription factor STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3). A signal transducer and activator is a pathway for instructing the growth and survival of cells, and a transcription factor is a protein that controls genetic information directing cells how to perform. STAT3 is notorious for sending signals to trigger the onset of human cancers and to fuel their continued growth. The great neutralizer of STAT3 is PIAS3 (protein inhibitor of activated STAT3). PIAS3 possesses the strength to inhibit and block STAT3's ability to cause cancer. In this study, investigators assessed... |
