From Marc Ladanyi and colleagues: New Strategies in Pleural Mesothelioma: BAP1 and NF2 as novel targets for therapeutic development and risk assessment

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22825583

Clin Cancer Res. 2012 Jul 23. [Epub ahead of print]

New Strategies in Pleural Mesothelioma: BAP1 and NF2 as novel targets for therapeutic development and risk assessment.

Ladanyi M, Zauderer MG, Krug LM, Ito T, McMillan R, Bott M, Giancotti FG.

Source

Pathology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Abstract

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a highly lethal cancer with limited therapeutic options. Recent work has identified frequent inactivation of two tumor suppressor genes in MPM-- NF2 (Neurofibromatosis type 2) and BAP1 (BRCA associated protein 1). Additionally, germline mutations in BAP1 have been identified and an associated cancer syndrome which includes MPM, ocular melanoma and other cancers has been described. These recent advances may allow screening of high risk individuals and the development of new therapies that target key pathways in MPM.