Hopes for mesothelioma vaccine progress

RESEARCHERS in the Netherlands have found promise in an investigational vaccine for treatment of asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma, according to an upcoming article in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

In a test conducted on 10 people with the disease, researchers found that the vaccine resulted in a T-cell response against tumours. The vaccine marks the first mesothelioma therapy targeting dendritic cells in the immune system.

Mesothelioma has caused thousands of deaths for workers exposed to asbestos. Incidents of the disease are expected to accelerate until around 2020.

And it has been one of the main drivers of increasing asbestos-related insured losses.

According to the UK’s Asbestos Working Party the total undiscounted cost to the UK market between now and 2050 could be about £11bn ($17.7bn), of which 90% related to mesothelioma, and more than £9bn relates to the next 30 years.

This is a near-doubling of the previous estimate, issued in 2004, when the cost of the period 2009 to 2040 was put at £4.7bn.

The report noted that the proportion of sufferers from mesothelioma who had submitted a claim for compensation had increased from one-third to two-thirds