Rare genetic cause of peritoneal mesothelioma points to targeted therapy
The team's findings are published in JAMA Oncology . "Mesothelioma is highly lethal and has no cure. Often, it is not diagnosed until at a late stage, when many tumors have already formed," said principal investigator Lucian Chirieac, MD, a thoracic oncology pathologist in the Department of Pathology at BWH and associate professor at Harvard Medical School. "Although this mutation only exists in a small percentage of cases, this discovery points to a potential therapeutic avenue for these patients." There are about 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma each year in the U.S., and only about 300 of those are peritoneal mesothelioma, which forms in the lining of the abdomen. Most cases of mesothelioma result decades after exposure to asbestos or radiation therapy . But in rare cases, young patients who have never been exposed to either risk factor are diagnosed with the disease. One such case led Chirieac and his colleagues to their unexpected finding. "Thi...