Author: Alex Strauss

New Studies | Prognosis | Radiation Therapy | Research | Surgery | Treatments | Updates

Surgery Remains “Cornerstone” of Mesothelioma Treatment
ByAlex Strauss May 10, 2015March 26, 2019

A major new study of more than 14,000 mesothelioma patients diagnosed between 1973 and 2009 finds that surgery appears to have a greater impact on survival than any other form of mesothelioma treatment. Researchers with Mount Sinai Medical Center, North Shore/Long Island Jewish Health System, and Hofstra School of Medicine in New York analyzed data from SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results), a large national database of cancer patients. Only patients with confirmed malignant pleural mesothelioma were included in the study. The researchers divided 14,228 mesothelioma cases by age, sex race, diagnosis year, stage, cancer-directed surgery, radiation and other factors to determine which ones appear to have the most influence on mesothelioma survival. When compared to having no treatment, cancer-directed…

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New Studies | Radiation Therapy | Research | Surgery | Treatments | Updates

IMRT for Long-Term Survival After Mesothelioma Surgery
ByAlex Strauss May 8, 2015March 24, 2019

Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) can safely slow or even stop mesothelioma progression after surgery as long as the dose is just right. A team of Texas radiation oncologists reached that conclusion after studying the treatment results of 18 mesothelioma patients between 2005 and 2014. IMRT is a highly targeted form of high-dose radiation. While it can have a powerfully negative effect on tumor cells, it can also have an equally negative effect on healthy lung tissue. Some patients have even died from pulmonary toxicity caused by IMRT. But in a report published in the journal Oncology, doctors from Texas A & M Medical Sciences Center and Baylor Scott and White Hospital found that, as long as the radiation dose…

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Australia | Genetics | Immune Systems | International | Mesothelioma | Prognosis | Research | Updates

Genetic Mutation Improves Mesothelioma Survival Odds
ByAlex Strauss May 6, 2015March 23, 2019

Another new study has been released that supports the idea that mesothelioma patients who are missing the tumor suppressor called BAP1 are more likely to survive longer than those who have intact BAP1 genes. The BRCA-1-associated protein 1 (BAP1) gene is located on the chromosome 3p21. Because the job of BAP1 is to help suppress cancer, a mutation that causes this gene to be inactive raises the risk that a person could get mesothelioma or another cancer. BAP1 loss has also been associated with increased risk of skin cancer, renal cell cancer and some lung and breast cancers. But there appears to be an upside to BAP1 loss. Data published in the journal Pathology suggests that mesothelioma patients with BAP1…

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Mesothelioma Breaking News | New Drugs | New Studies | Research | Treatments | Updates

Skin Cancer Drug Produces Exceptional Results in New Mesothelioma Trial
ByAlex Strauss May 2, 2015March 26, 2019

A drug approved to treat skin cancer has produced what researchers are calling “unprecedented” control of malignant pleural mesothelioma. As announced at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research which met in Philadelphia in April, pembrolizumab either stopped tumor growth or even reversed it in more than three quarters of the mesothelioma patients tested. Pembrolizumab (brand name Keytruda) is a monoclonal antibody designed to block a cell surface receptor called PD-1. As part of a phase 1B clinical trial known as KEYNOTE-028, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania gave the drug to 25 mesothelioma patients between March and December 2014. These patients all had tumors that tested positive for PD-1 expression. Most had already been through at…

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Europe | International | Multi-Modality Therapy | New Studies | Research | Surgery | Treatments | Updates

Light-Based Therapy Extends Mesothelioma Survival
ByAlex Strauss April 29, 2015May 23, 2019

The newest research on photodynamic therapy appears to confirm what multiple recent studies have found – that PDT is a safe and effective way to prolong survival in pleural mesothelioma patients after surgery. A new meta-analysis of 16 studies on PDT for mesothelioma finds that the technique efficiently kills mesothelioma cells left behind after lung-sparing pleurectomy. For each of the studies, the French research team analyzed the specific PDT technique used, the level of toxicity, and the effect on survival in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. “After two decades of clinical studies, intrapleural photodynamic therapy after surgical resection became a safe treatment that significantly improved the survival of patients,” reports lead researcher Camille Munck of Inserm in Loos, France. Mesothelioma…

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Updates

New Regimen May Help Mesothelioma Patients Avoid Chemotherapy Skin Rash
ByAlex Strauss April 26, 2015March 26, 2019

A single dose of medicine prior to chemotherapy may be enough to ward off an uncomfortable side effect for mesothelioma patients, giving them one less thing to worry about prior to treatment. Doctors from four different US medical centers just released their findings on a new and potentially easier protocol for preventing pemetrexed-related skin rash. Pemetrexed (Alimta) is the most popular drug for malignant pleural mesothelioma and remains the only drug approved specifically for this rare cancer. It is also used to treat non-small cell lung cancer. Most patients on pemetrexed experience side effects, one of which is an itchy, blistering skin rash. While the rash is not usually serious, in some rare cases it can progress and even be…

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Asbestos | Europe | International | Occupations | Statistics | Updates

Mesothelioma: The Deadly Legacy of Cement Plants
ByAlex Strauss April 24, 2015March 25, 2019

A new study out of Italy demonstrates the deadly legacy of asbestos cement plants around the world. Researchers found a higher incidence of malignant pleural mesothelioma not only not only among former plant workers, but also in people who just lived near the plants, including many women. The study involved more than 15 thousand Italians diagnosed with mesothelioma between 1993 and 2008. Because mesothelioma is directly related to asbestos exposure, the researchers analyzed the lives of these patients including where they lived, the industries in which they worked, and their family histories to see how they may have come in contact with the toxin. When all of these mesothelioma cases were plotted on a map of Italy, it became clear that some…

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Diagnosis | Europe | International | New Studies | New Techniques | Research | Updates

Diagnosing Mesothelioma from Pleural Fluid: The Cell Block Technique
ByAlex Strauss April 21, 2015March 21, 2019

Turkish researchers say a method for concentrating cancer cells from the lung fluid of mesothelioma and lung cancer patients into a single “block” for examination may result in a more accurate diagnosis than traditional fluid analysis. Pleural effusion or excess lung fluid is often one of the first signs of mesothelioma. Patients may experience this fluid collection as chest pressure, pain, or inability to take a full breath. Suspected mesothelioma patients with pleural effusion will often undergo thoracentesis, a technique for removing some of the fluid for examination. In the current study, researchers compared the traditional method of analyzing cancer cells in pleural fluid with a method that involves concentrating those scattered cells into a “block” that can be cut through and examined…

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Chemotherapy | Europe | International | Multi-Modality Therapy | Statistics | Surgery | Treatments | Updates

Surgical Experience Improves Outcomes in Peritoneal Mesothelioma
ByAlex Strauss April 20, 2015July 9, 2019

When it comes to surgical intervention for peritoneal mesothelioma, the most experienced centers tend to have the best outcomes. The latest study to support this idea comes from researchers in the Peritoneal Malignancy Institute in Basingstoke, UK. The authors of the new study on peritoneal malignancies including mesothelioma published their research in the British medical journal Colorectal Disease. They performed a retrospective analysis on a database of 1,200 patients treated for peritoneal cancers since 1994. Most of these patients had a diagnosis of cancer of the appendix, but just over 5 percent had peritoneal mesothelioma. The goal of the study was to determine trends in cancer survival after cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). For peritoneal mesothelioma, the surgery involves…

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Asia | Australia | International | Mesothelioma | New Studies | Radiation Therapy | Research | Treatments | Updates

Mesothelioma and Hematologic Cancers: The Radiation Connection
ByAlex Strauss April 15, 2015March 25, 2019

A multi-center study involving mesothelioma patients from around the world has revealed some new information about the possible connection between mesothelioma, hematologic malignancies and radiation treatment. The study found that, among patients who had both a hematologic malignancy (like lymphoma or leukemia) and mesothelioma, those that had been treated with radiation for their hematologic cancer had better odds of surviving their mesothelioma than those who had not received radiation. Hematologic malignancies are cancers affecting the blood-forming tissues. They include diseases such as Hodgkin lymphoma, Non Hodgkin lymphoma and leukemia. Many people with these types of malignancies are treated with ionizing radiation. Unfortunately, this kind of radiation has been shown to raise the risk of developing mesothelioma later in life. To…

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