Dr. Hassan on Immunotherapy in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

Raffit Hassan, MD, head of Thoracic and Solid Tumor Immunotherapy Section at the National Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Research discusses immunotherapy in malignant pleural mesothelioma.

There are 2 major forms of immunotherapy used to treat mesothelioma, both of which are in advanced clinical testing. Amatuximab is used in the frontline setting and targets the anti-mesothelin tumor. The other is anetumab ravtansine, which is an antibody-drug conjugate in the second-line setting.

The other class of immunotherapy drugs that might potentially benefit patients with mesothelioma are checkpoint inhibitors. Fifteen percent to 20% of patients with mesothelioma have seen long-lasting shrinkage in their tumors, although it is not yet determined who will benefit. No drug has been approved since 2004, making the outcome of the clinical trials for mesothelin-targeted agents and immune checkpoint antibodies vital to the future treatment of mesothelioma.