AI Cure is a research tool showing open data. Not medical advice. Discuss with your doctor. Terms

📰 Latest breakthroughs
🗺️ Disease Atlas · Cancer or benign tumor

mesothelioma

A usually malignant and aggressive neoplasm of the mesothelium which is often associated with exposure to asbestos.

🔔 Follow weekly
🧬3446genes / proteins with evidence
💊96drugs and clinical candidates
🧪12+recruiting trials worldwide
✅2approved
📈7phase 3
🧬

Understand mesothelioma

Cancer · Cells that grow out of control
🎓 Learn more

What it is

Malignant mesothelioma is rare but serious. Most people who get it have worked or lived in places where they inhaled or swallowed asbestos particles. After being exposed to asbestos, it usually takes a long time for the disease to form.

Symptoms include:

Trouble breathing

From MedlinePlus: Mesothelioma (US National Library of Medicine) ↗

🧬 Cancer: Cancer is a group of diseases in which some of the body's cells grow and divide without control, and can spread to other parts of the body.

❓ Why it happens

  • Changes (mutations) build up in the genes that tell a cell when to grow, divide and die.
  • Most of these changes happen during life: tobacco, too much sun, alcohol, some infections (such as HPV and hepatitis B and C), radiation, obesity and ageing all raise the risk.
  • Some people inherit a faulty gene that raises their risk, such as BRCA1 or BRCA2.

🫀 What it does to the body

  • Cancer cells form a lump (tumour) that can press on or invade nearby organs.
  • They can travel through the blood or lymph to start new tumours elsewhere (metastasis).
  • Blood cancers crowd out healthy blood cells in the bone marrow.

🧱 Why it is hard to cure

  • Every cancer is different, even between two people with the same type - and inside one tumour.
  • Cancer cells keep changing, so they can learn to resist a medicine that worked at first.
  • Cancer cells are the body's own cells, so killing them without harming healthy cells is hard.
  • Many cancers cause no symptoms until they have spread, and a new medicine often takes more than ten years to go from the lab to patients.

🚀 What research is trying now

  • Targeted medicines against the exact gene change in a tumour (for example EGFR, ALK or KRAS).
  • Immunotherapy that helps the immune system recognise cancer, including CAR-T cell therapy.
  • Personalised cancer vaccines built from each tumour's mutations, now in late trials.
  • Blood tests that look for tumour DNA to find cancer earlier, and AI to read scans and slides.

General information about cancer, reviewed by people; it does not describe any one person. Below: the evidence for mesothelioma itself.

🤖

AI briefing

Where the science on mesothelioma stands, from the evidence on this page

AI reads the targets, drugs, trials and papers below and writes where the science stands — every claim cited. It is shared with everyone who opens mesothelioma.

🎯

Top targets

Genes and proteins ranked by Open Targets evidence (0-1)
BAP1 BRCA1 associated deubiquitinase 1PROTAC🧊 AlphaFold structure ↗ 0.78
NF2 NF2, moesin-ezrin-radixin like (MERLIN) tumor suppressorPROTACantibodysmall molecule🧊 AlphaFold structure ↗ 0.73
WT1 WT1 transcription factorPROTACother🧊 AlphaFold structure ↗ 0.70
LATS2 large tumor suppressor kinase 2PROTACsmall molecule🧊 AlphaFold structure ↗ 0.66
TP53 tumor protein p53PROTACothersmall molecule🧊 AlphaFold structure ↗ 0.65
SETD2 SET domain containing 2, histone lysine methyltransferasePROTACsmall molecule🧊 AlphaFold structure ↗ 0.62
TYMS thymidylate synthetasePROTACsmall molecule🧊 AlphaFold structure ↗ 0.62
DHFR dihydrofolate reductasePROTACsmall molecule🧊 AlphaFold structure ↗ 0.60
GART phosphoribosylglycinamide formyltransferase, phosphoribosylglycinamid…PROTACsmall molecule🧊 AlphaFold structure ↗ 0.59
TRAF7 TNF receptor associated factor 7PROTACantibody🧊 AlphaFold structure ↗ 0.57
CDKN2A cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor 2A🧊 AlphaFold structure ↗ 0.57
PDCD1 programmed cell death 1PROTACantibodyothersmall molecule🧊 AlphaFold structure ↗ 0.56
DDX3X DEAD-box helicase 3 X-linkedPROTACantibodysmall molecule🧊 AlphaFold structure ↗ 0.53
CTLA4 cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4antibodysmall molecule🧊 AlphaFold structure ↗ 0.51
BCL10 BCL10 immune signaling adaptorPROTAC🧊 AlphaFold structure ↗ 0.48

Green labels: what the target is known to be druggable by. The score combines genetics, somatic mutations, drugs, expression and literature.

💊

Drugs and candidates

Every medicine linked to mesothelioma, by how far it has got
Approved · 2
NivolumabProgrammed cell death protein 1 inhibitorApproved
PemetrexedThymidylate synthase inhibitor; Dihydrofolate reductase inhibitorApproved
In phase 2 / 3 · 20
CisplatinPhase 3
Doxorubicin HydrochlorideDNA topoisomerase II alpha inhibitorPhase 3
DurvalumabProgrammed cell death 1 ligand 1 inhibitorPhase 3
IpilimumabCytotoxic T-lymphocyte protein 4 inhibitorPhase 3
NintedanibPlatelet-derived growth factor receptor inhibitor; Vascular endothelial growth factor rec…Phase 3
RaltitrexedThymidylate synthase inhibitorPhase 3
Show all 20
RanpirnasePhase 3
PegargiminasePhase 2/3
AbemaciclibCyclin-dependent kinase 4 inhibitor; Cyclin-dependent kinase 6 inhibitorPhase 2
AlanosinePhase 2
AldesleukinInterleukin-2 receptor agonistPhase 2
AlrizomadlinTumour suppressor p53/oncoprotein Mdm2 inhibitorPhase 2
AmatuximabMesothelin inhibitorPhase 2
Anetumab RavtansineMesothelin binding agent; Tubulin inhibitorPhase 2
AtezolizumabProgrammed cell death 1 ligand 1 inhibitorPhase 2
BemcentinibTyrosine-protein kinase receptor UFO inhibitorPhase 2
BevacizumabVascular endothelial growth factor A inhibitorPhase 2
Bortezomib26S proteasome inhibitorPhase 2
CadonilimabProgrammed cell death protein 1 inhibitor; Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte protein 4 inhibitorPhase 2
CapecitabineThymidylate synthase inhibitorPhase 2
Early trials · 20
AvelumabProgrammed cell death 1 ligand 1 otherPhase 1/2
BirinapantcIAP1/cIAP2 inhibitorPhase 1/2
Biw-8962Phase 1/2
Bms-986148Phase 1/2
Cbp-501Phase 1/2
DocetaxelTubulin inhibitorPhase 1/2
Show all 20
F16Il2Tenascin otherPhase 1/2
IeramilimabLymphocyte activation gene 3 protein inhibitorPhase 1/2
Leucovorin CalciumPhase 1/2
Megestrol AcetateProgesterone receptor agonistPhase 1/2
OsimertinibEpidermal growth factor receptor erbB1 inhibitorPhase 1/2
PaclitaxelTubulin inhibitorPhase 1/2
PacmilimabProgrammed cell death 1 ligand 1 binding agentPhase 1/2
Pemetrexed DisodiumThymidylate synthase inhibitor; Dihydrofolate reductase inhibitorPhase 1/2
Rinatabart SesutecanPhase 1/2
SpartalizumabProgrammed cell death protein 1 antagonistPhase 1/2
VemurafenibSerine/threonine-protein kinase B-raf inhibitorPhase 1/2
CabozantinibVascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 inhibitor; Hepatocyte growth factor recepto…Phase 1
Carfilzomib26S proteasome inhibitorPhase 1
DexamethasoneGlucocorticoid receptor agonistPhase 1
🧪

Recruiting trials

Worldwide, open to new patients now
An International Study on Pediatric Patients With Rare Tumors.NCT07072143 · n/a · 📍 PadovaEvaluation of Cell Changes in Blood and Tissue in Cancers of the Lung, Esophagus and Lung LiningNCT00242723 · n/a · 📍 BethesdaPartial Pleurectomy (Surgery) for Unresectable Pleural MesotheliomaNCT07126509 · NA · 📍 ChicagoEfficacy and Safety of Ivonescimab Plus Pemetrexed and Platinum-Based Chemotherapy in Advanced Malignant Pleu…NCT07885319 · Phase 1, Phase 2 · 📍 ShanghaiNEoadjuvant Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy for a Selected Group of Inoperable Pleural Mesothelioma Patients (…NCT07121374 · Phase 1, Phase 2 · 📍 EdegemCT-95 in Advanced Cancers Associated With Mesothelin ExpressionNCT06756035 · Phase 1 · 📍 DenverRegister With Patients in Which Hyperthermic Intra-Peritoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC) Was PerformedNCT01617382 · n/a · 📍 LeuvenA Study of IDE892 as Monotherapy and Combination in MTAP-deleted Advanced Solid TumorsNCT07277413 · Phase 1 · 📍 GoodyearChemotherapy With or Without Immunotherapy for Peritoneal MesotheliomaNCT05001880 · Phase 2 · 📍 PhoenixIntegration of the PD-L1 Inhibitor Atezolizumab and WT1/DC Vaccination Into Platinum/Pemetrexed-based First-l…NCT05765084 · Phase 1, Phase 2 · 📍 EdegemA Study of Mesothelin-Targeted CAR T-Cell Therapy in People With Esophagogastric Cancer or Malignant Peritone…NCT06623396 · Phase 1 · 📍 Basking RidgeOlaparib in Patients With HRD Malignant MesotheliomaNCT04515836 · Phase 2 · 📍 Chicago Search more trials →
🛡️

AI Cure shows public evidence (Open Targets, ClinicalTrials.gov, PubMed, openFDA, DepMap, AlphaFold) with its source, and AI summaries that cite it — not medical advice and not a cure. Treatment decisions belong with your doctor. Research ideas are shared only with approved researchers and labs, who can test them. In an emergency call your local emergency number (112 in India and Europe, 911 in the US). AI Cure Terms of Use · Privacy