The Pacific Mesothelioma Center Receives Funding For a FACS Machine for Its Mesothelioma Research
The Pacific Mesothelioma Center (PMC), a division of the Pacific Heart, Lung & Blood Institute (PHLBI), is pleased to announce a generous donation from Roger G. Worthington, of the law office Worthington & Caron P.C. to purchase a Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting (FACS) machine to be used to speed up their ground-breaking research on chest diseases, including malignant pleural mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer affecting the lining of the chest.
The gift will be used to support PHLBI’s two new scientists – Dr. Masahide Tone and Dr. Yukiko Tone who previously worked at Cambridge University, Oxford University, University of Pennsylvania and Cedars Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Masahide Tone, the director of research at PHLBI, also mentors a dozen UCLA and LMU undergraduate students, all working on different chest-related projects. He stated, “We have a need for our own Flow Cytometry (FACS) which analyzes protein expression in tumor and immune cells. We have been using machines in collaborating laboratories, but waiting to get machine time is costing us money and slowing down our research.”
PHLBI is working on developing novel immunotherapies for mesothelioma. Immunotherapy is an exciting and promising cancer treatment that uses the body’s immune system to fight cancer. It is the PMC’s firm belief that the future of mesothelioma treatment will involve combination therapy, including surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. Further, rational combinations of various immunotherapies combined with traditional cancer therapies holds the greatest promise for real progress in the treatment of mesothelioma and other chest-related cancers. Click here for the full press release.
