BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – The UVM Cancer Center has reached an important milestone in its testing for a treatment for mesothelioma, an aggressive and rare form of lung cancer, and there’s potential to improve treatments in other forms of cancer as well.
Mesothelioma has been linked to asbestos exposure and comes with a dismal five-year survival rate of only five to 10 percent. Only two therapies have been approved for the treatment of mesothelioma since 2004, which affects about 3,000 people a year in the United States. Now, UVM researchers have started a Phase 2 trial for a promising treatment.
John McMahon spoke with Brian Cunniff, a UVM professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, about what the advancement means for patients.