Whether or not the immune system can recognize malignant (cancerous) and pre-malignant cells and eliminate them to prevent the development of cancer is currently under investigation within the medical community and the evidence is favoring the concept.

According to a 2009, study conducted by investigators McCoy, et al. and published in Tissue Antigens, chemoimmunotherapy has become the most recent strategy for the treatment of cancerous mesothelioma.  Chemoimmunotherapy is a treatment strategy that combines chemotherapy, which uses different drugs to kill or slow the growth of cancer cells with immunotherapy, which uses treatments to restore the ability of the immune system to fight cancer.

This recent study has revealed the fact that a cancer such as mesothelioma has been found to effectively interact with the immune system and this makes it a good candidate for immunotherapy.   Several immunotherapies have been investigated to date and the investigators have determined that immunotherapy should be combined with conventional chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy as a treatment method that is proving itself, although modestly, to be effective.

The investigators are gearing up to begin a Phase I clinical trial using immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy as it is becomes more and more clear that careful drug selection, dosing and scheduling will be significant when designing a chemoimmunotherapy for mesothelioma.