[Gene therapy in malignant mesothelioma]

Malignant mesothelioma which arises from pleural mesothelial cells is a rare and deadly disease. Environmental factors, especially the exposure of asbestos, are accepted as etiological factors. There is not any accepted treatment of malignant mesothelioma. Nowadays four main forms of therapy and the combination of these forms are put in the practise for the treatment of malignant mesothelioma. These are surgical therapy, chemotherapy protocols, radiotherapy protocols and recently immunologic therapy which is based on direct antiproliferative effect of interferon. Gene therapy has been studying experimentally for recent years. The main principles of the gene therapy is sensitizing to antiviral drugs by infecting and changing the gene structure of the malign cells. The most used gene is herpes simplex virus (HSV) tk gene. In malignant mesothelioma, there is no standard treatment protocol and the main cause of death is local spread of tumor and the pathological effects of its mass rather than metastasis and the diagnosis and treatment results are evaluated from the same localization (pleural space). According of these factors, gene therapy could be an appropriate treatment for malignant mesothelioma.