Author: Alex Strauss

Genomic medicine experts in the U.S. and Canada have completed a key step in improving the understanding and treatment of peritoneal mesothelioma. Peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare and often lethal malignancy that grows on the peritoneal membrane that surrounds the abdominal organs. Although its cause (exposure to asbestos) is well documented, treatment of peritoneal mesothelioma remains a challenge, in part because so much about the molecular biology of the disease is still a mystery. But now, thanks to the efforts of scientists at the University of British Columbia, the British Columbia Cancer Agency, and PhenoPath Lab in Seattle, Washington, understanding of peritoneal mesothelioma is taking a dramatic leap forward. Using cells from two patients with peritoneal mesothelioma, these researchers mapped…