Mesothelioma is a very aggressive type of cancer that primarily affects the thin tissue lining of the chest and the abdomen. It leads to approximately 3,200 deaths per year in the U.S. and is often caused by exposure to asbestos.
New public impact research led by the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center has discovered that the HMGB1 protein plays a critical role in the development of asbestos-induced mesothelioma. Future research will examine how this protein influences cells at different stages in the disease to prevent or reduce the growth of mesothelioma.
The international research team was led by Haining Yang and Michele Carbone whose previous study discovered the key to increasing the survival rate of mesothelioma could also ultimately be used to treat other types of cancer.
This new research found that following asbestos exposure, HMGB1 is released out of the cells and kick-starts an inflammatory process that, over time, promotes mesothelioma. The study published in the September 18 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S. aimed to identify the primary cell type responsible for HMGB1 production upon asbestos exposure.
“We are very encouraged by these results, and we hope to develop more effective preventive and therapeutic strategies for those people at risk of developing mesothelioma because they have been exposed to asbestos,” said Yang.
The researchers created genetically modified mice in which HMGB1 expression is regulated in various cell types and then exposed these mice to asbestos. During the early phases of mesothelioma development, HMGB1 was released by the mesothelial cells, which form the lining of the abdomen, thorax, and internal organs, and later on by macrophages, which are inflammatory cells.
The next steps will be for the researchers to target certain molecules in these different cell types at different stages of the disease in mice to prevent or reduce the growth of mesothelioma.
