Author: Alex Strauss

  • | |

    Could Statin Drugs Help Fight Mesothelioma?

    ByAlex Strauss

    A new study suggests that some of the most popular drugs used to treat high cholesterol may also help combat deadly malignant mesothelioma. That finding comes from Japanese research, published recently in the medical journal, Cancer Letters. The study found a “synergistic effect” in mesothelioma cells between two statin drugs, atorvastatin (Lipitor) and simvastatin (Zocor) and gamma tocotrienol (y-T3), a form of Vitamin E. “Statin+y-T3 combinations induced greater cell growth inhibition more than each single treatment,” write the authors in the summary of their findings. The combination of statin drugs and gamma-tocotrienol appears to work by inhibiting an important metabolic pathway inside the mesothelioma cells, making it impossible for them to synthesize or utilize certain critical molecules. When the researchers…

  • | | |

    Human Trials Planned for Promising New Mesothelioma Drug

    ByAlex Strauss

    The Australian Asbestos Diseases Research Institute says it is ready to begin human trials on what its lead researcher calls the first significant advance in mesothelioma treatment in a decade. More than three years in development, TargomiRs utilizes a unique ‘minicell’ delivery system to insert a synthetic form of missing genetic material into mesothelioma cells. Like a number of other types of cancer, mesothelioma cells are missing a family of microRNAs critical to regulating the cellular life cycle. TargomiRs restores these microRNAs. In mice with human-derived mesothelioma, TargomiRs produced a “remarkable inhibition of tumour growth”, according to the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute. “The last significant development in the treatment of mesothelioma occurred ten years ago,” ADRI director Nico van Zandwijk…

  • |

    Short-term Asbestos Exposure Triggers Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    The recent death of a British man from mesothelioma is evidence of the destructive power of asbestos – even when exposure is short.  A British newspaper reports that Welwyn resident Roger Beale first began experiencing a classic symptom of mesothelioma, shortness of breath, nearly 4 years ago. Beale first noticed the problem while walking up stairs. After a chest X-ray, Beale’s symptoms were attributed to a chest infection.  But when his symptoms continued to worsen, Beale sought medical care again in January, 2010 and was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, an intractable cancer of the lung lining that is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos. By November of 2010, Beale’s shortness of breath had gotten worse, despite regular monitoring and…

  • | |

    Scientists Test New Skin Delivery for Mesothelioma Drug

    ByAlex Strauss

    Researchers at Griffith University are working on a new kind of mesothelioma treatment – one that could be delivered through the skin. The report in the Courier Mail makes reference to animal research on “certain small molecules” that reportedly have the potential to penetrate the skin and target the mitochondria of mesothelioma cells. Mitochondria are one of the most important power sources for cells, producing adenosine triphosphate, a source of chemical energy. The Griffith University project, under the leadership of Medical Professor Jiri Neuzil, is focusing on a drug that would be applied to the skin as a patch or cream. The drug would enter the blood stream through the skin and would target only mesothelioma cells. Studies of the…

  • |

    New Approach to Decrease Mesothelioma Symptom

    ByAlex Strauss

    Draining off excess lung fluid with an indwelling catheter may be a better way to deal with this mesothelioma symptom than surgery, according to a new study. Pleural effusion, a build-up of fluid between the two layers of the lining around the lungs, is a common side effect of several cancers, including malignant pleural mesothelioma. Approximately half of all patients with metastatic cancer develop pleural effusion, which can have a dramatic impact on quality of life by inhibiting a person’s ability to breathe freely. Many mesothelioma patients also experience chest pain and fatigue as a result of pleural effusion. If untreated, pleural effusion can lead to pneumonia or lung collapse. Some mesothelioma patients with pleural effusion are treated with pleurodesis,…

  • | |

    FDA Approval Could Mean New Choice for Mesothelioma Patients

    ByAlex Strauss

    A newly-approved drug for late-stage lung cancer may have implications for people with malignant mesothelioma, as well. The FDA recently announced its approval of afatinib, a drug which blocks epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression in cancer cells. Many types of cancer, including about half mesothelioma cases, express a specific type of mutation on the EGFR gene that causes tumors to grow even faster. Because of this, EGFR has been a focus for biomarker research in mesothelioma, as well as in a number of other cancers. In clinical trials, afatinib (brand name Gilotrif), significantly extended progression-free survival in non-small cell lung cancer patients versus the more common pemetrexed/cisplatin chemotherapy combination. Over a 12-month period, the progression-free survival of lung cancer…

  • | | |

    New Mesothelioma Treatment Targets Growth Factors

    ByAlex Strauss

    On the brink of a predicted “third wave” of mesothelioma cases in Australia, Australian scientists are testing a new kind of treatment that combines drugs and gene therapy. Australia has long had one of the highest per capita rates of mesothelioma, the most deadly of asbestos-linked diseases. Historically, mesothelioma cases occurred first among people who worked with asbestos in Australia’s mines. Later, new cases developed among people in industrial jobs like construction or shipbuilding. But, in recent years, there is growing concern about a third wave of mesothelioma cases among renovators, do-it-yourself homeowners and others with relatively low levels of exposure. In anticipation of this problem, scientists at Flinders University are working on a mesothelioma treatment that targets “key growth factors…

  • |

    Peritoneal Mesothelioma Study: Long-Term Survival is Possible

    ByAlex Strauss

    A new study out of Italy has some encouraging news for patients with the peritoneal form of malignant mesothelioma. The recent analysis of 108 peritoneal mesothelioma patients who underwent complete cytoreductive surgery (CRS) followed by a rinse of heated chemotherapy (HIPEC) found a 43.6% cure rate among long-term survivors. Peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare form of one of the rarest cancers. Triggered almost exclusively by exposure to asbestos, mesothelioma affects about 2,500 Americans each year.  About a third of those patients are diagnosed with the peritoneal form of the disease, which occurs on the membrane that lines the abdomen and surrounds the internal organs. During cytoreductive surgery, surgeons attempt to remove all traces of the mesothelioma tumor so that no cells…

  • | |

    P/D for Mesothelioma: Are the Studies Accurate?

    ByAlex Strauss

    A new analysis of pleurectomy/decortication suggests that the most radical form of the surgery produces the best results for mesothelioma patients, but also carries the greatest risk. Pleurectomy/decortication or P/D involves the removal of the pleural lining where malignant mesothelioma grows. Removing all or part of the lining frees up the lungs to expand again, relieving life-limited mesothelioma symptoms such as shortness of breath. But, as the Australian researchers found in their mesothelioma analysis, the varying degrees of P/D can make it difficult to accurately compare the method to the more extensive lung-removing surgery or even to get an accurate picture of P/D outcomes. Extended or ‘radical’ P/D involves removing the entire pleural lining, while partial P/D involves removing only part…

  • |

    New Prognostic Factor in Peritoneal Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare form of mesothelioma that attacks the membrane that lines the abdomen and surrounds internal organs. The outlook for this rare malignancy, which affects fewer than 500 Americans annually, has been improved by the treatment combination of cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). The combination has produced 5-year overall survival rates ranging from 29% to 63%. But not all peritoneal mesothelioma patients are good candidates for CRS/HIPEC. The challenge, for clinicians, is identifying which patients are likely to benefit from the procedure (or even be cured) and which are not. In an effort to help answer that question, French researchers recently tested the prognostic value of the glucose transporter protein GLUT1 as well as…